


les AUgeries

by TheQueenInTheNorth



Series: tumblr au meme [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, also slightly less platonic belladolphus, and... bellamortus?, idk man I'm just having fun here, platonic belladolphus bc my babies are awesome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-07-21 17:05:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 57
Words: 33,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7396144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheQueenInTheNorth/pseuds/TheQueenInTheNorth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of AUs as prompted on tumblr about everyone's favourite trashy sue. //give me an au and I'll give you 5 headcanons writing meme that escalated//</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Retail AU

**Author's Note:**

> prompt: Ok so cursed child, retail AU

1) Delphie paints her nails at the counter with samples when there’s nothing to do. One nail, one colour. She says it’s so the customers can see what they look liked dried. She says it’s definitely not so the cute barista will compliment her again when she gets her after-work muffin and caramel latte. (There’s a plastic wheel with all the colours on already. She always has one purple nail since Victoire said it’s her favourite colour.)

2) Scorpius comes in for work experience bright-eyed and eager. After two weeks, he wonders whether that’s what made You-Know-Who turn evil. He think he’s heard he worked retail, at least.

3) Some idiot comments on her tattoo and her dyed hair.”How will you ever get a job like that?“  
“You’re literally asking me this at work,“Delphie replies, torn between amusement and wanting to punch him right in the face. He blinks at her, as if to say, _What’s your point?  
_ She rolls her eyes at him and informs him his coupon expired last week. (It didn’t.)

4) The summer job in the bookshop wasn’t her first choice, but her mum convinced her she should have a boss once who isn’t Uncle George. Rose _loves_ every second of it. She buys books for all the cousins. **A Song of Ice and Fire** becomes everyone’s obsession. She and Al get in a screaming match with Lily and Fred over Ashara Dayne’s baby. They grow back together over more and more convoluted theories.

5) “This is lousy customer service,“complains the toad-faced woman in pink, who is very loud, very rude, and very, very much in the wrong. Scorpius has politely smiled his way through her rant but his eyes are screaming for help. Delphie grins as she walks up to deal with that woman herself. God, she loves being the manager. She loves barring arseholes from the store.


	2. Greek Mythology AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Cursed child greek mythology au omg

1) Delphie grows up in the dark, but she grows up happy. She climbs onto Cerberus’s back for her naps, though her parents scold her. (Mother secretly smiles at her brave little daughter, Father rolls his eyes and makes sure her pockets are filled with enough treats for all three heads.)

2) Charon looks so sad, Delphie thinks. So she lets a flower bloom in her small palm and holds it out to him. He almost smiles as he takes it, so she touches his ferry and brings him spring, the way Grandmother taught her. The souls rather like it, too.

3) Her finger almost touches the waters of Lethe when she’s jerked back. Mother is furious, and for one wild instance Delphie knows why the souls cower when Father lets Mother dole out judgement. Eyes still blazing, Mother grasps her shoulders so hard it hurts, but she sounds more frightend than angry,“You would have forgotten, silly girl. You wouldn’t even have known me, or your father.”  
Delphie sobs, and vows to stay far away from Lethe.

4) A little hero comes to ask for his friend back, all pale face and scared eyes and determination. They tried to save a good man, and lost one of their own instead. Delphie thinks it’s awfully romantic, though of course she does her best to imitate Father’s unreadable half-smile as she tells him the terms. He is ambitious and loyal and devoted, and he succeeds where most would fail. (Delphie giggles at the notion those two should be friends and nothing else. Well, they are still children. They’ll figure it out one day.)

5) Delphie doesn’t go to the surface often but the nymph draws her back again and again, with her laughs and touches and - finally, _finally_ \- kisses.  
Delphie offers her a place in the Underworld and she sighs heavily.“Father would be distraught. And Mother would be furious if I up and left.”  
Ah. Delphie knows that story. She gives a small shrug and soft smile.“Well, I could always steal you.”  
“You could,” says Victoire with a devilish grin and holds out her hand.“Go on, love. Steal me away.”


	3. X-Men AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: also cursed child marvel / dc au

1) Delphie doesn’t get to go to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. She doesn’t get to use her wings at all. She learns to keep them folded down, no matter how painful, and hide them under clumpy sweaters. She learns that mutans are filthy half-breeds. She learns that she can cleanse herself of that taint by cleansing the world of others.

2) She spreads her wings, secretly. Tells herself it’s not wrong if she only does it to catch and kill a half-breed. It’s for the greater good, afterall. How could it be a bad thing? (She loves her wings, secretly.)

3) She leaves a feather behind each time to tell them she’s going to come for them all. To tell them there’s no one to save them. (To tell them she’s one of them. To ask for someone to come save her.)

4) They catch her, eventually. A vicious pretty taloned bird-thing like her leaves her a bloodied mess and then stops the others from killing her, says to keep her until they all decide together.  
She hears a boy say, indignantly, that she killed Craig. She probably did. She doesn’t know which one it was. She doesn’t care.  
She hears the girl say something about brainwashed. She doesn’t particularly care what that means, either.

5) The celldoor opens and she feels someone crouch down next to her, but she’s too tired to open her eyes.“They wanted to kill you.”  
“That’s good,“Delphie says, smiles with blood in her mouth and blood on her wings.“A dead mutant is always good.”  
“Fool, I’m not letting them do it,"Victoire sighs, sad and soft. Her fingers gently brush Delphie’s feathers.  
Strangely, that’s good, too.


	4. Horror Movie AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: also i swear this is the last one but cursed child horror movie au

1) It seems like great fun when Louis dares them to spend the night in the abandoned manor. They shiver with delight as much as fright when they see the fresh footsteps in the inch-deep dust, guessing (incorrectly, but they do not know) that their cousin left them there to scare them.

2) The haunting, mournful cry just after midnight makes Scorpius jump and Albus wish they hadn’t come. Rose, stubbornly brave and a lover of Care of Magical Creatures crosses her arms and frowns at the boys.”The Augurey just has a bad reputation. It’s not actually a death omen, you know.“

3) “What is that?”Scorpius whispers, shuffling closer to the things strewn across the floor. They’re all the same, but not the same at all. Some are cracked, newly so, as if someone was looking for something just recently, as if someone got frustrated with looking. Albus picks one up and feels the chills down his spine as he recognises it from his history books.”They’re Death Eater masks.“  
It’s not the kind of thing Louis would think to turn into a joke.

4) The floorboards creak above their heads, and for one instant they are all frozen in fear. Then, as one, they turn and run and run and run.

5) In one of the upstairs windows, a pale figure stands, fingers drawing absent shapes on the glass as she watches them flee, wearing the mask she thinks must have been her mother’s. She can’t be sure, but it somehow feels like home.


	5. Serial Killer AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Serial killer au where Delphi copy cats her dad's old crimes

1) The first thing she does is train herself to be ambidextrous. Her father was left-handed, afterall, and it all has to be flawless. It takes her almost a year to get her stabs just as deep, just as deadly, just as perfect.

2) She’s killed before, of course, but it never felt so good, wasn’t real, just practice runs. But this one, the first in her father’s image, is a revelation.  
Part of her wants to stay here forever, his legacy flowing through her as the blood seeps out of her victim. But she has more work to do.  
So. much. more. work.

3) He is resurrected through her. He’d disappeared once before, so long they all thought they were safe, yet he came back then. They have no trouble believing he has done it again. When once again the Bones start dropping like flies, even the last whisper of _copycat_ turns into hushed talk of _he’s back, he’s back, he’s_ back.

4) A mirror image of dead in her wake, an echo of the decades old fear throughout the country. A sense of peace Delphie has never felt before.

5) For his most intricate, beautiful, perfect work - his most twisted, the uncomprehending masses say - he had a partner. Father wanted to cleanse the world. Mother liked to hear it scream.  
She doesn’t have that kind of trust, no loyal lieutenant by her side. But her mother should come back, too.  
Well, _she_ was right-handed.


	6. 1920s AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> propmt: ok but like a 1920s gangster/great gatsby au

1) Her family was always rich, but after the war they are almost absurdly well-off. It’s a combination of Papa - not her real father, the one who lends her his name - dealing with weapons and of the darker machinations of her father. Of course, Papa is involved in those, too. That’s how he and Mama met Father, afterall.

2) The lavish parties keep her attention for weeks and weeks, but then Delphie grows tired of them. She has no need of work, of course. But she is bored, and Father’s ventures seem ever so exciting.

3) “I taught your mother how to shoot, too,“he says, fondly, as he examines the assortment of guns. He picks one, weighs it in his hand, puts it back and hands her another.”She was quite the natural. And with a dagger, you’d best ask her to show you that.“  
He corrects her hold on the gun with one of his rare smiles.”But let Rodolphus teach you to drive. Your mother drives like a maniac.“

4) Father and Papa are both hesitant to accept the girl into their services. Mama thinks it absolutely hysterical that they have a scion of the holier-than-thou Weasley clan nearly begging to be their errand girl. Delphie thinks she’s absolutely delicious, begs father to let her work for them, and promises she’ll put a bullet in her pretty head herself if she turns out to be trouble.

5) “I have a husband,“she blurts out, as if it’s some secret. Delphie knows that, of course. You should always know all your minions’s pressure points. She stretches, enjoying the feel of silk on her naked, sweat-soaked skin.”So?“  
Victoire looks surprised, and somewhat uncertain. As if she isn’t quite sure herself. She accepts the cigarette Delphie hands her.”And I have a child.“  
Delphie thinks of her two fathers, of mother, and of herself. They’re all perfectly happy. Not many families are. She pulls in a lungful of smoke and cocks one eyebrow.”So?“


	7. ASoIaF AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: cursed child asoiaf au asdvdxbfxhnfdvnjnm !!!!

1) She is raised to be the queen she’ll one day be, but she is told little of her father. The Usurper and his dogs call him The Mad King. She asks the woman who isn’t her mother but is the only mother she’ll ever remember if it’s true, once. She glances at her sharply, but smiles a split second later.”Of course not.“  
Delphie nods, and goes to ask the man who isn’t her father instead. He surveys her for a few much too long seconds before he asks,”Does it matter?“  
“No,“Delphie admits, and that’s the last they speak of it.

2) She loves the Basilisk Isles and would want to stay there, if she didn’t have a home to retake. The woman who isn’t her mother forbids her from taking along the basilisk she befriended. Delphie argues and pouts and knows her tantrums will distract them as she hides away three eggs in her cabin.

3) “Mother of Serpents, they call her,“Scorpius tells Albus, heir to a throne his father never wanted. But neither did James, so he took off for adventure across the Narrow Sea. Albus is more dutiful than that, even if he wants the throne just as little. He’ll stay, and he’ll do his best to protect his people. (And he’ll die with them, if that’s what’s needed.)

4) The Dornish princess is the first to bend the knee, swearing her fealty amid sand and stones in the Red Mountains. Delphie doesn’t feel like an invader here, as she did in the Stormlands. She feels like a queen returned, The Princess That Was Promised coming home.

5) Many flock to her cause, and many more die. In the end, they all bend the knee. There’s red there, too, the usurpers slaughtered at her feet.


	8. Voldemort Wins AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: all i need in my life is headcanons for delphi in the canon absurdly Goffik ™ voldemort wins au

1) Father is some sort of God, she knows, even if she doesn’t quite know or understand it all completely. Mother is more complicated yet. No one truly knows what to call her, and no one dares to ask. (He hates it when they call her Lestrange. He hates it when they call her Gaunt. They settle for _my lady_ , eventually, because she undeniably is His.)  
His lieteunant, His mistress, His queen, the mother of His heir. (So she’s His, yes, but she’s Delphie’s, too.)

2) She herself is a Gaunt, under threat of His wrath, from the day Father hears her call Uncle Rod Papa and snaps at her to never do it again. Harsh Parseltongue that makes Draco jump in alarm and Rod eye Him with something that is almost suspicion. Delphie nods solemly, and never does it again.  
She very almost likes that she can injure His pride so easily. (Or maybe His feelings, if He has them. She’s not sure. But Mother loves her, and she loves Mother, and they both love Him. It’s enough.)

3) The child whose very existence would have threatened them enough to deny it lived in another world becomes the Malfoys’s salvation in this one. Delphie loves her cousin, who teaches her to fly and reads her the Tales of Beedle the Bard and gives her a little snake to raise for her third birthday. (Nagini takes a shine to it instantly, and fondly calls it hatchling, just as she does Delphie. The snake is called Salazar, because Mother put her foot down when Delphie tried to call it Mr Snakey.)  
Delphie pouts and bribes and bargains and throws a few rather undignified tantrums, and Draco rises through the ranks.

4) Attending Hogwarts, for her, is rather like holding court. From day one, they grovel and seek her favour, Father’s name on their lips with every greeting.  
What she decides is law. Her every word becomes their truth. What she wears to the Blood Ball becomes haute couture next term. (Once, she wears a ridiculous thing, corset, lace, horrendously pink fishnet stockings. Just to see if they’ll follow suit. They do.)

5) She adores Scorpius, and he her. Bellatrix watches warily. It’s too reminiscent of the way Sirius followed her around, awestruck, until he turned traitor.  
She breathes a sigh of relief when he is sorted into Slytherin and makes himself the King of the court fumbling about in the power vacuum his cousin has left.


	9. Girl Who Lived AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Super angsty/edgy Delphie as the girl who lived/ chosen one p l e a s e

1) There’s a prophecy deep in the bowles of the Minsitry of Magic that has the Dark Lord’s name on it, and the potential to change everything. He has never heard it, however, and does not even know it exists.

Harry is still born into hiding, but not more so than any other child with Muggle grandparents or parents fighting for the Light.

Lord Voldemort’s rise to power is unstopped, terrible and magnificent.

2) Dumbledore finds out about the horcruxes anyway, from Sirius, who is sobbing so hard he barely gets out a word and has to let Kreacher explain why they brought him a locket that whispers his worst nightmares to him.  
Dumbledore finds the rest and destroys them, to make his enemy mortal, to atone for where he failed with Gellert.  
He knows there is one left when they breach the safehouse, but he couldn’t get to the serpent without getting to its master. Voldemort has grown more agitated, more cautious, more paranoid with every fragment of his soul destroyed. (More human, again, he disgustedly thinks sometimes.)

Sirius takes out the last horcrux, and dies with Rabastan’s dagger in his throat only seconds later. In the end, one of the darkest houses died with two brothers sacrificing themselves for the Greater Good. _Noble, indeed,_ Sirius thinks wryly as he chokes on that most ancient blood.

3) Voldemort feels the stab, knows he is mortal again, for the first time since he was sixteen, enemy forces at his doorstep, Order blood mingling with Death Eater blood on the floor of the parlour.

Bellatrix has her wand at the ready, but she is terrified. He was afraid of that, four years ago, of the child becoming her weakness. His eyes flick to his daughter, too scared to even cry. Dammit, she’s his weakness, too.

“Bella,“he says, evenly, as the invaders draw nearer and nearer. He is mortal, and he will die, and he has his heir to protect.”Take Delphie and go. I’ll hold them off.“

4) She doesn’t make it very far. It’s a massacre that will be spoken of for generations to come, and at last, Bellatrix is all that stands between them and her daughter. (She’s wandless, now, but that won’t make her give up.)

“Stand aside,“Albus says, and the words hurt, everything hurts, and he will be damned beyond salvation if he does this, damned to the deepest depth of hell. But that girl - she might be a horcrux, or some product of dark magic he cannot even fathom, some way to bring her sire back into this world. He cannot see why Tom would have her, otherwise. She has to die, to ensure his fall. But Bellatrix doesn’t. There was so much blood spilled, and he has had enough. The girl looks at him as if he’s a monster, and he knows she is right, and he wants to be dead. His voice breaks.”Just stand aside.“

She doesn’t, of course, and Alastor won’t wait anymore, and before Bellatrix even hits the floor, he turns his wand on her daughter. Albus understands in the split second it takes for the curse to rebound and steps between the girl and his old friend. He was too slow to do it for his sister. It’s not the worst way to go. ( _It will be sweet to see Ariana again_ , he thinks as he fades.)

Mad-Eye doesn’t comprehend, is stunned for a few seconds, yet raises his wand again. There is something wrong with that child, if it even is a child at all. (Her hysteric screaming for her parents indicates she is, but Alastor has always been paranoid.)

He goes down with severed tendons, rolls over in his blood to see his attacker. Narcissa spits in his face before she cast the curse to end him.”Not my niece, you piece of shit!“

5) His followers rally around his heir, who proved more powerful than anyone before her. The fence sitters sway towards the miraculous Girl Who Lived. Supporters of the Light question their allegiance. The story of Bellatrix sacrificing herself to save her child is repeated in hushed whispers all around Europe; Rodolphus paints her martyrdom in the most vivid colours.

Delphie grows up alongside her cousin, loved and protected and raised like a princess. (Lucius always liked the idea of controlling the war, and his niece lends him the legitimacy money alone never could.)

There’s talk of sending them to Durmstrang, as what meagre support Dumbledore’s Order has left after his death is still in control in Hogwarts.

“No,“Delphie says simply and Draco follows her. She wants to destroy everything that man ever held dear. She unleaches the basilisk, and names Rodolphus Lestrange as succesor to the late Headmistress in the Great Hall.

She is only eleven, but no one even thinks to question her authority. She is a myth, a legend. Her uncle is Minister of Magic, and her armies have conquered half of Europe. (Hers in name only, of course, but Barty Crouch Jr allows no dissent when he leads in her name. She’s liked him ever since he brought her his father’s head. It was very odd, but a nice gesture.)

The Girl Who Lived stands tall and regal, and the Wizarding World cowers at her feet. (She misses Father and Mother, every day, no matter how much Aunt Cissa loves her, and no matter that Uncle Lucius promises her a crown, one day. But it hurts less, with each passing year, and she’ll be all right.)


	10. Voldemort Wins AU 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: AU about Delphi's relationship with her Father, pleaaase :) Love your head canons

1) “You’d best not be about to tell me I need more sleep again, Bella,“he cautions without looking up from the maps he’s poring over. Wizarding Britain is not enough in the long run, and a takeover has to be properly planned.

“No,“she says as she crosses the room to stop next to his desk.”Although you do, really. Your daughter wants you.“ 

She lays the fussing metamorphmagus into his arms, and Delphie calms down almost instantly. Her eyes are scarlet in imitation of his, as they always are when she wants her father’s attention. Bellatrix brushes her fingers across her hair with a fond smile before turning, grinning at him over her shoulder as she leaves.”I’ll get back to sleep, then, like a reasonable person.“

He scoffs at that. _Reasonable_ is quite probably the last word anyone would ever pick to describe Bella.

He goes back to work, Delphie settled into the crook of his elbow peacefully, until she starts fussing again. Her eyes are as grey as her mother’s and he gets up to return her as she changes them to scarlet again. And back to grey to scarlet to grey, until she settles for one scarlet eye, one grey.

“You’re a devious little thing, aren’t you?“he sighs, almost fondly, as he carries her out of his study. Bella is sound asleep on her side of the bed, still reaching out automatically as he sets a brabbling Delphie down next to her before sinking onto the bed himself.

God, he really _is_ exhausted. He gives his daughter a glare for the sake of form. She’s far too young to look smug or even have a notion of such a thing existing, but he thinks she does anyway.

“If I didn’t know any better,“he tells the baby, already half asleep,”I’d swear your mother put you up to this.“

2) The war goes on, battle after battle is won, and more and more people come flocking to his cause.

New recruits learn three things rather fast:

  * Disappoint the Dark Lord, and you will suffer his wrath.
  * You do not comment on his daughter sitting on his lap, not even when she’s fingerpainting unicorns and getting colours all over his robes. ( _Especially_ not then.)
  * The girl’s presence will not make punishments any less harsh. She has an awful tendency to giggle at anything her mother laughs at, mostly because she likes feeling like she knows what’s happening. (A well-aimed Crucio can be somehow even worse when a toddler is cackling at your misfortune.)



3) “Why is Mummy not a Gaunt?“she asks, deliberately nonchalant. It’s been bugging her lately, but she’s not sure why. She thought it best not to ask Mother, who doesn’t like anyone questioning her relationship with Father. She’s not sure why that is, either.

No one interrupts their breakfast. Everyone is used to their back and forth in Parseltongue by now.

Her father eyes her for a few seconds before replying.”Because we’re not married.“ And, in English,”Pass the coffee, Bella.“

Delphie thinks about this answer and holds out her glass to Aunt Cissa for more orange juice.“Why aren’t you married?“

“Did your mother put you up to this?“he asks instead of answering, absently accepting the plate of eggs Rodolphus holds out to him. Delphie tries to make sense of that and fails. Maybe _that’s_ why Mummy doesn’t like talking about it. Because Father makes no sense.”Why would she put me up to anything?“

“Don’t try to figure them out, hatchling,“Nagini says, brushing around her ankles for a few strips of bacon.”I gave that up years ago.“

Father calls her something that Delphie doesn’t understand. She asks the table at large what it means. Draco almost chokes on his toast and Rabastan roars with laughter. Mother gives Father a reproachful look.”Really, she’s five!“

Ah. So it was a bad word. She turns back to Father.”You’re not s’posed to say bad words.“

“ _You’re_ not supposed to say bad words,“he corrects her.”You’re also supposed to eat your breakfast.“

She turns back to her plate. Three mouthfuls later, she looks up again.”So _why_ aren’t you married?“

He groans in exasperation.

4) Father glowers at all the boys that ask her to dance at the Blood Ball. He glowers at all boys that speak to her for a tad too long, actually. Or look at her wrong, whatever that even means.

She considers telling him about the pretty blonde she met during her exchange year at Beauxbatons, but she really, _really_ doesn’t want him glowering at her like that.

Let the boys be glowered at. Mother said that, sometimes, hiding can be as valid a move as stabbing someone in the face. (Though nowhere near as fun, she added.)

Well, hiding with Victoire is an _awful_ lot of fun.

5) “I’d rather not,“Snape says when offered the glass. Delphie pouts.”Make him drink it, Father.“

Severus looks worried at the hissing. He never liked being out of the loop.

“What does it matter?“Voldemort asks, very much regretting having let Bella talk him into this shindig. Delphie stomps her foot like a petulant child.”It’s my birthday! Make him drink it!“

“Your seventeenth, not your seventh, so you might want to act it,“he reminds her acidly. Delphie doesn’t budge.”It’s disrespectful. Make him drink it.“

He sighs in defeat. The sooner this is over, the sooner he can return his attention to spreading his reach across Russia.”Severus, drink it. We’re toasting my daughter.“

The Potions Master looks as if he’s swallowing poison. Voldemort half expects it, really. Bellatrix has carefully cultivated her own dislike for Severus in their daughter.

When minutes later the man starts spilling all the secrets he’s kept for so long, he tells Nagini to make it a slow death and turns to his daughter.”Your mother definitely put you up to that.“

“Well, she was right,“says Delphie, rather smugly. Voldemort sighs.”And you two will never let me here the end of it.“


	11. Voldemort Wins AU 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: but how about a really angsty trashy au where voldemort wins bUT delphie grows up to realise that all muggles and muggleborns aren't trash due to some circumstances cough cough victorie cough and ends up sort of *rebelling* i need this

1) There’s a boy on the train whose hair is flashing from turqoise to bubblegum pink, and he lookes embarrassed. 

Delphie is _so_ excited. She’s never met another Metamorphmagus before. (The boy must be as nervous as her, with his hair behaving like that. She can never control her eyecolour when she’s emotional, and it gives away too much.)

She’s about to go talk to him when she realises he must be the half-breed child of the half-blood daughter of her bloodtraitor aunt.  
Disappointment washes over her. And the smallest sliver of doubt, though she doesn’t recognise it at the time. If Metamorphmagi are so special, and mixed blood is so bad, how can that boy be one, too?

2) Her cousin remains fascinating to her, though she never gives in to the temptation to talk to him. 

She builds herself an entourage, he sticks mostly to himself. She keeps watching him, even if it yields nothing of importance.

She catches him looking at her, sometimes. She wonders what he’s thinking. Maybe he would like to get to know another Metamorphmagus, too. Maybe he’s jealous because she’s never lonely. Maybe he’s just thinking about how her mother killed his.

Her attentiveness pays off when she sees him happily chatting to a new firstie on the train one year. Some petty part of her wants the girl for herself, simply because she always has everything, and it’s not right for her dirty-blooded cousin to have that girl pick colours for his hair and make him laugh.

To her utter delight the girl - unfortunately, though, a Weasley - is sorted into Slytherin. Still, she invites the girl into her court. Her friends raise eyebrows but no questions. Delphie isn’t to be questioned.

Rodolphus looks decidedly unimpressed when she waves Victoire into the seat next to hers and she knows Mother will hear of this soon. A part-human bloodtraitor at her daughter’s side.

Delphie glares at her uncle and declares Victoire Weasley a reverse Sirius Black, coming to her senses on arrival at Hogwarts.

Victoire smiles at her shyly. She’s not in the house of the ambitious without reason.

3) “I don’t want you hanging around vermin,“Mother sniffs, regarding her with that mix of worry, disappointment and anger she reserves for Delphie stepping out of line.”I can’t imagine what your father would say.“

“Like he has room to talk,“Delphie mumbles under her breath. It’s a stupid think to say - outrageous to even think - but she’s embarrassed to have been dragged away from her friend (Girlfriend? Mother probably ruined that.), and she’s angry.

Mother cocks her head to one side, predator watching its prey, and Delphie understands once again why she’s feared. For the first time, that thought doesn’t make her proud.”What is that supposed to mean, Delphinus?“

“He’s a half-blood,“she says, spitting that truth they never mention out between them, too reckless, too proud, too like her mother to back away from a fight.

Bellatrix hits her so hard she stumbles, lip split open and cheek throbbing. Mother wipes a fleck of blood from the back of her hand.”I won’t have you talking like that, do you understand?“

“Yes, Mother.“ Delphie is horrified at her own outburst and lets the bruise bloom across her pale face in penance.

(Father takes her chin in hand, fury flooding his eyes.”Who did this?“

“Mother,“she admits, and he looks apeaced.”You deserved it, then, I suppose?“

It’s not truly a question, but she nods anyways.)

4) They’re lying in the grass under a clear sky and Delphie points out the constellations that gave her and her family their names. Distant ancestors, Mother, her cousins. (The pure ones, of course, not Ted. They never mention Ted.)

Victoire listens, enraptured, the way she always does when Delphie talks. It’s different from the rest of her friends, somehow. More genuine.

“My great-grandmother was called Rigel,“Victoire says. Delphie points the star out without even thinking about it.”The Veela?“

Victoire nods and her face falls.”Are you uncomfortable with that? Because I’m - well, I’m not -“

“It’s okay,“Delphie cuts her off. She means it, too.

“Your father wouldn’t think so,“whispers Victoire, so low Delphie isn’t sure she’s meant to have heard at all. She reaches out for Victoire’s hand.”I’m not my father, Vi.“

It feels oddly good to say that.

5) “Not _all_ non-purebloods are bad,“she says, after suspecting it for a few years, and thinking about telling him so for a while. Father looks at her as if she’d just announced her plan to break her wand and live as a Muggle.

“Your mother said you’d been getting some strange ideas,“he says chidingly.”I didn’t think you were quite so foolish. Explain yourself.”

She feels like she’s four again, trying to convince Nagini to eat Snape because Mother disliked him. Father had humoured her then, too. She almost wishes Mother where here to smack her again. She, at least, takes her seriously.

“We’d die out if we only married other purebloods,“she says.”It’s not good for the genepool, too much interbreeding. Aunt Cissa had - what? - six miscarriages and only one healthy baby.“

“And a fool like his father at that,“her father puts in. She tries not to let him deter her.”Look at the Weasley clan. They spawn more children in one generation than the Parkinson and Greengrasses in three combined.“

She knows not to bring up that she is the best proof of her own theory: Half-blooded father, yet here she is, Parselmouth and Metamorphmagus. Father smiles, and she knows he knows what she’s thinking.“What are you suggesting?“

She squares her shoulders; she never thought she’d get this far.”Collect all Muggleborns and raise them ourselves, away from Muggle influences. Stop pushing for only pureblooded marriages. No killing based on bloodstatus, only for deliberate transgressions. Have our numbers expand.“

“I’ll think about it.“ He turns back to his work. Delphie knows she’s dismissed, and she hurries out before he can change his mind.


	12. Delphie Greengrass AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Delphie but like alternate universe where she's born in Harry's year and goes to hogwarts with everyone

1) “Well, er, they’re dead,“Harry tells the pale blond awkwardly. The girl who is waiting to be fitted next gives him a small smile.”Don’t worry about it. Mine are dead, too.“

“Stop telling people Ma and Pa are dead, Delph,“another girl calls with a grin from where she’s perusing a selection of silks. Delphie flushes scarlet - even her eyes, Harry thinks for a second before deciding he must have imagined it.”Shut up, Daph! You know what I mean!“

“My birth parents are dead,“she adds in explanation.”I was adopted right away, though. Were you?“

The pale boy is still watching them with interest. Harry shrugs.“I live with my aunt.“

“I wish I had an aunt,“Delphie admits sheepishly. She loves the Greengrasses and they are her family in every sense that matters. But sometimes she wishes she knew where she came from.

2) “Shove off, Ern, he only told the snake to leave Justin alone,“she stubbornly tells her fellow Hufflepuffs. (The Hat had offered her Slytherin, too, and even Gryffindor. _Ma says all houses are perfectly fine_ , she’d thought at the Hat. _I don’t mind,_ _I’m just here to learn_. She’d been teased over being a hat stall for a while, but in Hufflepuff, most teasing was very good-natured.)

Ernie sighs heavily but she knows Susan is inclined to agree.”You can’t know what he said, Del!“

“Yes, I can, that’s what I’m telling you,“she says in frustration, letting the Parseltongue spill out. They stare at her in utter shock and behind them, Harry gives her a small smile.

(They keep her secret and she’s with Hannah when Justin is attacked. Not even Ernie thinks of accusing her of being the Heir of Slytherin.)

3) The Dementors are scary but she doesn’t let that stop herself from looking forward to her first Hogsmead weekend. She’ll met Daph after lunch to explore but first they’ll each go around with their own group of friends. Toria is jealous and sad that she can’t come yet, but apeaced with the promises of sweets, dungbombs, and more sweets.

They have to line up and go out the school single-file. A young Auror trainée flashes her hair red when they have to stop, green when they can go.

“I can do that, too,“Delphie tells her happily, and shows her. Tonks lets out an impressed whistle.”Not many of us around, huh?“ She catches sight of the tie around her neck.”Hey, I was in Hufflepuff, too!“

From then on, Delphie takes to bringing her cups of tea whenever she spots Tonks on nightduty.

4) Mad-Eye Moody freaks her out. It’s not the magical eye, or the scars, or that he shows them the Unforgivables, it’s not even that he offers to show her how to cast Cruciatus, though that alone is bad enough. It’s that he keeps her back one day, under pretense of wanting to discuss her last assignment, and fixes both eyes on her so intently she wants to scream.

“Show me your real face,“he says, and he’s much too close to her. Delphie shakes her head, terrified, but his hand clamps firmly around her arm.”Don’t be afraid, girl. Just let me see.“

She is afraid, though, of course she is. But he’s stronger, and a teacher, and she doesn’t know what to do. So she lets everything melt away. The silvery hair that she likes so much and the nose she picked from father and mother’s warm brown eyes. Everything that, to her, is her real face.

He stares into her pale face, framed by wild, ebony locks, and almost sighs with delight at her grey eyes.”I knew it. I knew it was you.“

He lets go of her, and she runs, straight to Professor Sprout to demand to call her parents. The Head of Hufflepuff marches up to yell at Dumbledore that Moody should be sacked, and the Greengrasses arrive with threats of Aurors moments later.

Moody catches wind of it all, and disappears with Potter, who returns sobbing and shaking. No one really knows what happened to him but the Triwizard Tournament is called to a halt.

“Pity, you would have won,“Delphie tells Cedric, who she’s always had a bit of a crush on. (Hell, who doesn’t?)

When she returns home for the summer, her parents sit her down and confess that her birth parents aren’t dead, not at all.

5) Her parents are rather intimidating. But Mother obviously loves her in her own odd way, and Father likes speaking Parseltongue with her.

And she is so _angry_ at the Greengrasses for lying to her all these years, so she goes to live at Malfoy Manor with her _real_ family.

The woman who isn’t her mother cries and cries, the man who isn’t her father pleads with her, and her sisters who - god, that hurts the most - aren’t her sisters try to convince her she’s making a mistake.

She joins Dumbledor’s Army and gains Potter’s trust right under his nose. She goes to the Department of Mystery with them. She holds out her hand, and whispers out of the corner of her mouth,”Give it here, Harry, I have an idea.“

He trusts her. It almost breaks her heart. She moves right past him, right past Uncle Lucius’s outstretched hand, and gives the prophecy to Bellatrix.”There you go, Mother.“

Ginny aims a vicious hex at her, Neville looks utterly disgusted, and Luna looks so betrayed Delphie wants to take it back. Instead, she smirks, and tells Harry in Parseltongue,”Guess I was the Heiress, afterall.“

6) Her cousin is supposed to help her kill Dumbeldore. They have a good plan, and many helpers. She’ll easily manage. There’s just one problem: She doesn’t particularly _want_ to kill Dumbledore.

Snape does it for her, in the end, and she is relieved. Father is furious.

“I wanted to see if he’d do it,“Delphie claims, haughtily.”Mother never trusted him. I just wanted to see if he’d kill the dittering old fool. I would have done it otherwise. Dead’s dead, Father. It doesn’t matter.”

It really doesn’t. She feels just as guilty.

7) “Toria!“she screams, but she knows she won’t make it. Toria decided to fight for Hogwarts, while Daph helps evacuate the children, while Delphie is supposed to kill them both; they’re on the wrong side. It doesn’t stop her from loving them. Toria is too occupied to notice the werewolf advancing.

Her baby sister (Always was, always will be.) will die before her eyes. She’s running, hopelessly, but then Tonks is there and blasts Greyback away just before he reaches Astoria.

Delphie blocks the curse aimed at Tonks’s back without thinking about it. She only realises it was Mother’s after. But the battle pushes her away from her target with one reproachful look at her daughter, and Tonks gives her a greatful smile,”Wotcher, Delphie!“

She dives back into the battle, and so do Toria and Delphie, back to back, defending Hogwarts.

She feels a pang of guilty sadness when Bellatrix dies, and a odd sort of relief when Voldemort hits the ground.

Toria and Cedric make sure no one tries to arrest her, and later Susan, Daphne, Luna, even Tonks join them.

She gets to meet her little baby cousin a while later, and Harry Potter hands the baby to her after Tonks gives him a _look_.

“I suppose,“he says, slowly,”It’s our choices that show who we really are, in the end.“


	13. Scorp as Voldemort's son AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: An AU where Scorpius is actually Voldemort's son (featuring angsty jealous Delphi)

1) She stares down at the baby - her brother, they call it, that red, screaming, worthless little thing - and she hates it.

_She_ is Father’s heir. Scorpius is nothing, a nuisance. He shouldn’t even exist.

She thinks about snapping his neck. Dreams about how easy it would be to press a pillow onto his wrinkly little face until he stopped wriggling. Wonders whether she’d make it to the window to throw him out before anyone could stop her. (She never will find out that her mother had those exact thoughts, staring down at baby Sirius all those years ago.)

2) He isn’t even a Parselmouth, and everyone has the audacity to be relieved at his failing. It will make it so much easier to hide what should be proudly proclaimed.

What they don’t know - but Delphie knows, from his reaction to the things she hisses under her breath - is that while he might not be able to speak it, he does understand it. Not even Scorpius realises that.

They think he’s a bit frail, a bit sickly, a bit anxious when he’s plagued by nightmare after nightmare, can’t sleep properly unless they dose him with potions.

They never even think to suspect that his so-called sister might be sending him snakes to torment him with whispers, vicious threats hissed into his cradle as soon as he is old enough to comprehend at least part of them.

(They can strangle him, just a little bit, her pretty scaled friends, but they aren’t allowed to bite him. Someone might guess, then.)

3) He flushes bright red and denies the rumours, and Delphie wants to scream at him, curse him, even slam her fists into his stupid face like some common Muggle.

She doesn’t, but she takes great pleasure in tormenting him, just slightly, just enough that he thinks he might be imagining it, that he won’t run crying and tell someone.

Professor Longbottom told her of the firm anti-bullying stance the school is taking when she signed up for the job.

She doesn’t much care to be here, really, but she’s raising herself a Basilisk in the Chamber they all thought was sealed forever.

She’s the proper Heir. Not snivelling little Scorpius, traipsing about with Potter.

4) Her serpent spies tell her of some nonsense he and that Potter brat have concocted. She thinks of stealing the Time Turner for herself. Of going back and saving her father.

But she doesn’t remember the man, and when she looks at Scorpius, she doesn’t much care to meet him, afterall.

Some things are best left to the imagination. She can’t bare the idea of meeting him only to find out he is anything like his weakling son.

No, best to keep the past in the past.

(She stages an elaborate accident for the boys, takes Scorpius’s body, the Time Turner and confunded Albus back to the castle. She overdid it, somewhat, but they all agree Al must have gone mad with grief.

“If only I’d found them a bit earlier,“she says, eyes brimming with mummer’s tears. No one suspects. They even comfort her.)

5) She sits in the Chamber happily, letting blood drip down her fingers to nurish the newborn Basilisk.

“I’m the heir of both Salazar Slytherin and the great Lord Voldemort,“she tells the little serpent lovingly, stroking its shiny scales.”His one and only heir.“

The Basilisk nuzzles against her hand as if to agree.


	14. Voldemort Wins AU 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Omg pls continue with the last AU (Voldemort winning, Delphi kinda rebelling). It was good and I really enjoyed reading it

1) “It would be a sign of weakness,“Mother protests, looking over the proposal Delphie prepared. Everything is getting more and more bureaucratic and Mother _misses_ the old ways. Father gives her that indulgent smile reserved for her alone.“Now, Bella, no one could ever accuse us of weakness.”

Mother stops her protests at once. It’s the use of ‘us’ that does it, Delphie thinks, as she presses on.“Once we have those changes in place, it would make sense to -”

“You don’t want to overdo it, Delphinus,“Father interrupts calmly. She knows she’s dangerously close to getting middle-named so she drops the matter. For now.

2) The changes, superficial though they may be, get many occupied or fighting countries to sign the offered treaties and be officially annexed into Father’s growing kingdom.

Far too many of those with power, wealth and social status have always agreed with him, always sympathised, and now that his reign becomes more humane, there is no reason to oppose him.

Embargoes are lifted and people can travel again.

Victoire’s aunt and grandparents can come see her for the first time in years.

Delphie basks in their happiness, and doesn’t think of the Muggleborns across the continent who are being told they’ll be relocated from their parents’s homes at this very moment.

3) There’s still corporal punishment, of course. Father wouldn’t take that fear away from the masses, nor that reward from his followers.

Delphie understands, of course. Control must be kept by all means. (And Mother would be most distraught if they stopped. Fourteen years of Azkaban have given her a right to this, Delphie thinks privately. She never says so to Victoire, though. She’s a bit fragile, her sweet darling.)

But she doesn’t see how a _child_ could earn themselves such punishment. She stuns Avery without thinking about it and pulls the kid - sixteen, at most - out of the dungeon, shaking as much as the poor thing.

Father is furious when he finds out. She’s never seen him like this. Not towards _her_ , anyway. The sound echoes around the room when the back of his hand collides with her face.

She stands there, stunned, tasting blood. He’s never hit her before.

Then again, she’s never done something so horrid, either. She disrespected him for all to see.

“I’m sorry,“she whispers, and stands aside when Rabastan comes to return the kid to the dungeons.

4) The changes she manages to make become more and more subtle, and maybe more and more meaningless, too.

But resistance against their kingdom fades away, and so does the need for retaliation.

So maybe her changes aren’t that meaningless, afterall. Or so she tells herself.

Most people are content. It’s enough for Delphie. (She supposes that makes her a politcian rather than an innovator. She finds it increasingly hard to care as the years move by.)

5) She keeps out of politics, eventually, to help Victoire run the Insititut for Integration, where the Muggleborns are raised into the Wizarding World.

Victoire makes sure that the children know they are valued, Delphie makes sure they know to keep out of trouble. That they know their place in the magical community.

Getting as many of them as possible into Slytherin becomes her private little insurgency. Father knows, of course, and to her surprise and relief finds it amusing.

(When she decides she needs an heir of her own to carry on Slytherin’s line, she turns to her cousin. She alwaqys wanted to get to know another Matamorphmagus, so she tries to raise the chances of her child being one. Little Phineas Gaunt doesn’t need to know who his father is.

Her Father suspects, though, and is decidedly _not_ amused.)


	15. Voldemort Wins AU 5 (these are getting too popular lol)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh more headcanons for voldemortwins! Delphie!! Like why she exists (definitely not for the most magically powerful heir as per rodolphus's suggestion), bellatrix's pregnancy and like bb delphie

1) “Are you okay?” Rodolphus eyes her with concern, even though he is the one that has just woken up from a five day coma. Her disbelieve must be showing because he feels the need to clarify.“Only, you look like shit, Bella.”

“Thanks,“she deadpans.“Always the charmer, you are. I’ve been feeling weird lately. I think someone hit me with an odd curse when we went after Potter.”

She describes her symptoms and Rod chuckles.“If I didn’t know any better I’d say you’re pregnant.”

Bellatrix laughs heartily, and then blanches.“Oh fuck.” 

(When she tells the Dark Lord, he wordlessly stares at her for so long she thinks he might be having a stroke.)

2) Bellatrix leans into Rod’s hands with a groan. Her back is killing her and while she thinks Cissa would probably know some helpful crap to deal with it, she is not about to admit anything of the sort to her sister. She mocked her too much when she complained during her own pregnancy. (Karma’s a bitch, Bellatrix muses, and hopes karma forgot about the Longbottoms.)

Rod rests his chin on her shoulder as he kneads the knots in her muscles, mouth at her ear, and she can practically _hear_ his stupid smirk.”Your baby daddy’s glaring at me again, dear.“

“Please don’t call him that ever again,“Bella says, grin not quite surpressed, glancing over at the man in question out of the corner of her eye. He is indeed leveling a look at Rodolphus that would make most people run for their lives. Her husband only chuckles.”Maybe _he_ should rub your back if he’s gonna get his wand in a knot over it.“

They burst out laughing like the two mischievous firsties they once were, and it seems to do nothing to improve the Dark Lord’s mood.

(All of her things are moved to the master bedroom without comment. She spent most nights there already anyway, but it’s nice to be officially relocated. She knows not to bring it up, though.)

3) “Am I boring you, Bellatrix?“he sneers and everyone along the table turns to stare at her.

She has been paying rather less attention than usual. The baby’s started kicking again and, hand pressed against her stomach, she can actually feel it from the outside for the first time. Somehow, it suddenly seems much more real.

“Of course not, my lord,“she replies, trying to coax him into her mind with just a look. He understands. She supposes she was always an open book to him.

“Meeting adjourned.“ He doesn’t bother with any sort of explanation, not that anyone would expect one.

The second they’re alone he’s at her side, hands splayed across her stomach, a look somewhere between horror and awe on his face.

4) The Dark Lord, hated by half the world, worshipped by the other half, feared by them all, lies sprawled across the floor sound asleep, surrounded by an unholy amount of stuffed unicorns as his daughter, unperturbed by his snoring, continues to act her story out around and atop him.

Feeling rather privileged to witness the scene, Bellatrix snaps a few pictures. No one would believe her without them. Not that she would ever, _ever_ show anyone those pictures. Well, Rodolphus, maybe. (Probably.)

5) “Your daughter,“he says, and Bellatrix gives him a worried look. When she’s _her_ daughter it mostly means she’s done something particularly wicked - and not in the good way. This time, he looks quite amused,”has gotten it into her head that she would quite like a sibling.“

“And as we are in the habit of letting three-year-olds make all our important decisions, we should get right on to that,“Bellatrix says drily. As much as she loves Delphie, she absolutely hated pregnancy. She smacks his hand away as it trails along her leg teasingly.”I am _not_ doing that ever again!“

He gives her that look that always makes her feel like a lovestruck teenager all over again.”I do hope you’re referring to having a baby?“

“And only that part,“she retorts, lips curving into a smirk to mirror his own.


	16. Muggle AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No magic au where bellatrix / voldemort takes child (toddler?) delphie to the pediatrician

1) Bellatrix returns from the pediatrician with frayed nerves and Delphie without her shots.

”She bit her,”she tells Voldemort after packing Delphie off to an early bedtime and pouring herself a healthy amount of whiskey.“She bit her ten times. We were asked not to return.“

“Perhaps you should’ve stopped her from biting the doctor,“he offers rather unhelpfully. Bella glares at him.”Trust me, she didn’t just want to bite her ten times. She really, really hates shots. We’re never gonna get them done at this rate.”

Voldemort shrugs.“Well, lie to her about why you’re going.“

“She’ll figure it out right away,”Bellatrix sighs,”She’s too damned fast on the uptake. Unless -“

She eyes her glass wearily, exhaustion and annoyance starting to come together to form a very inappropriate idea.

“Illegal, Bella,“Voldemort interrupts her thoughts.

2) “I found a new pediatrician,“Bellatrix announces, suspiciously happy. Voldemort raises an eyebrow for her to go on.”And he has really great office hours. So you can take her this time.“

Ah. Well, he’s not about to shy away from a challenge. He shrugs nonchalantly.”Fine. How hard can it be?“

He returns with the pediatrician’s firm request to never let Delphie set foot into his office again, a look on his face as if he has stared into hell, and their beaming daughter covered head to toe in what appears to be iodine ointment.

“Don’t ask,“he pleads, and Delphie throws her arms up with a delighted cheer.”I hate shots!“

3) Delphie holds up a finger to shush the new pediatrician, raising her stuffed snake to her ear. She has not attempted to bite him so far, but she seems as unimpressed as with his predecessors. She listens intently before turning back to Doctor Snape.

“Mr Snakey says you’re a greasy git,“she informs him solemnly. Bellatrix barks out a laugh that she very unsuccessfully attempts to turn into a cough.

(”Well, Mr Snakey had a point. He _was_ a greasy git,“she says when she has to explain that, no, their daughter isn’t vaccianted, and no, they cannot go back to Snape.”Plus, he made six children cry while we were there. He torments the poor babies, really.“

“But your sister adores him,“Voldemort says. Bellatrix shrugs.”And sometimes Cissa has horrible taste. Case in point, Lucius.“)

4) Four more pediatricians and four more disasters later, Bellatrix as casually as possible brings up the one thing they haven’t tried.”Well, Rod’s just moved his office closer, you know, we could always -“

“We’re not taking her to your ex,“he snaps, and Bella purses her lips in disapproval.”Well, I’ll give you a week to find another pediatrician willing to see her, and then I’m asking Roddy.“

(Five days later, he digs up a pediatrician somehow. The man claims to be able to sort through all manners of problems, and Bella already pties the fool.)

5) “Right,“Doctor Longbottom says, gently but not condescendingly, as Delphie gives him her best imitation of her mother’s glare.”I hear you really don’t like shots.“

“I _hate_ shots,“Delphie corrects, but she’s calm enough. Both Bellatrix and Voldemort are hovering, ready to pull her back should she suddenly launch herself at the doctor.

The pediatrician nods solemnly.”Yeah, they’re not very nice, are they? But you wouldn’t want to get sick, now, Delphie, would you?“

“No,“she admits, suspicious now.

“Well, I have someone here to meet you.” Doctor Longbottom opens the door for a harried couple with a little girl between them.”Delphie, this is Victoire. Victoire, meet Delphie. Turns out you both hate shots.“

The girls grin at eachother while the parents exchange polite, slightly embarrassed smiles. _Fifth pediatrician_ , Fleur mouths apologetically.

Doctor Longbottom smiles at the two girls.“Ever heard of shot buddies?“

Minutes later, the two sit side by side, clutching eachother’s stuffed toys, and bravely let the doctor give them their shots.

“I’m only ever doin’ them with Del,“Victoire announces.

Bellatrix and Fleur exchanges numbers, almost faint with relief.


	17. Voldemort wins AU 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: More Delphie's relationship withh her parents AU please!

1) New recruits are confused about the other Daeth Eaters shusing one another and flinching at loud noises. They first think it’s because of the giant snake, but Nagini doesn’t attack without their master’s command.

The mumbled explanation of,”It’s naptime“ is assumed to be a joke until one poor fool ignores all warnings and makes a racket.

The baby’s cries are soon followed by his agonised screams. Everyone else is completely silent. If Nagini was intimidating, and the Dark Lord terrifying, a new word needs to be invented for angry Bellatrix with her sleep-deprived daughter in her arms.

“She’d _just_ went to sleep,“she offers as way of explanation when the Dark lord comes to investigate. He relieves Bellatrix of their daughter and gives the new recruit a disgusted look.”Continue, then, Bella.”

2) To the Wizarding World at large, Bellatrix Lestrange is many things: a birlliant witch, a terror, a master duelist, a fugitive, the Dark Lord’s best lieutenant, the thing their children think will come get them at night.

To her immediate friends and family she more and more becomes _that_ parent. The one who’ll talk your ear off and show you a hundred pictures  all taken on the same day.

Narcissa loves it, Rodolphus is just delighted Bella’s so happy, and Lucius seriously considers sending apology cards to everyone who knew him when Draco was little, now that he knows what it’s like on the recieving end.

3) Delphie marches into Father’s study with Nagini at her heel and tugs at his sleeve, giving him a bright smile as he turns to her.”It’s Mummy’s birthday next week.“

“I know,“he says, somewhat distractedly. He has a meeting to plan and a disappointing henchman to torture. The man in question is breathing raggedly on the floor, glad for the reprieve. Delphie gives him a small wave, unperturbed by his condition, and continues in Parseltongue.”Can we kill Snape for her? As a present, I mean.“

“No.“ He scowls at Nagini for letting Delphie wander into his study in the first place. Delphie pouts rather dramatically.”But Mummy doesn’t like him.“

Voldemort sighs, aiming a quick Crucio at the man at his feet to keep him from catching his breath properly.”I can’t kill everyone your mother doesn’t like. We’d hardly leave a single person alive.“

“You don’t have to kill _everyone_. Just stinky old Snape for Mummy’s birthday,“Delphie argues, and Nagini adds helpfully,”I’d eat him, if you’d like.“

“I would not,“Voldemort says testily. Delphie stomps her foot and marches out of the room in a huff.”I’ll make Mummy a necklace, then.“

(Bellatrix wears it every day, and a nastily aimed Diffindo teaches the other Death Eaters not to follow Nott’s example and laugh behind her back.)

4) “Well,“Bellatrix says, startling Delphie out of her thougts,”She is quite pretty, I’ll give you that.“

Delphie flushes bright red and averts her eyes from Victoire.”I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mother.“

“I’m sure you don’t.“ She’s giving her an indulgent smile, like she always has when she knows she should scold her but can’t bring herself to do it.”A pity she’s a Weasley.”

She sighs at Delphie’s baleful glance.”Oh, who am I to tell you off, with my trackrecord. And those Delacours _are_ related to the Rosiers.“ Another sigh.”Fine. Just warn me before you make a move so I can placate your father.“

(She’s very polite to Victoire when they meet. Had Delphie ever doubted her love, she would have no more doubts then.)

5) Her mother is the first person to hold her son other than herself. It’s the first time she can ever remember seeing Bellatrix cry. It’s the first time since she was eight Bellatrix doesn’t deny she’s crying.


	18. Muggle AU 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Non magic au in general for delphie and bellamort

1) Her husband introduces them at an office party, as much as you can call the legal front to an enormous drug dealing venture an office.

His stoic, aloof boss and his vibrant, fiery best friend who just happens to be his wife. (His residence permit went through years ago but they somehow never got around to getting divorced.)

It’s not the way your typical, happily-ever-after lovestory starts, but it works for them.

2) “You two have a very chipper little baby here,“the doctor says, turning the screen for them to see.

“He’s not the father,“Bellatrix corrects absently, completely fascinated by the grainy image of her child. Rodolphus waves away the doctor’s apology."The dad couldn’t make it today so I’m here for moral support. I’m just her husband.”

The doctor stares at him, waiting for him to laugh or show some indication he’s kidding, and finally settles for a mumbled,“Oh, how nice.”

(They eventually get a divorce because Voldemort gets ridiculously jealous but won’t admit it. Bellatrix misses making people uncomfortable by introducing them as _my husband, and the father of my child_.)

3) “What the hell _is_ that?” Bellatrix steps closer in horrified amazement. Voldemort sits amid some sort of vicious contraption with more edges than seems reasonable, or indeed mathematically possible.

“Crib,“he says around the screwdriver wedged between his teeth for safekeeping. Bellatrix lets her eyes trail over the chaos around him slowly, one hand on her rounded stomach, the other on her hip.”Are you sure it’s supposed to look like that?“

International drug baron but can’t built a piece of ready-made furniture. Seems about right.

“Does it _look_ like it’s supposed to look like that?“ The exasperation is heavy in every word. Bella sits down next to him with some difficulty.”Well, you might want to trap a baby, I guess. Looks about right then.“

She takes the screwdriver and glances at the manual. Fighting very hard against her smirk, she turns the manual the right way up and gets to work.

He watches her for a few seconds, sighs, and goes to make her some tea instead.

4) Show and tell evolves into a bit of a disaster when Delphie brings Nagini in.

“You cannot let her bring a giant snake,“the kindergarten teacher, Neville, explains, managing not to look bewildered at the fact that that’s an actual sentence he has to say to actual parents in his actual job.

Bellatrix, who would agree completely if it were about anyone else’s child, and sort of agrees right now aswell, crosses her arms and frowns. United front, no matter how idiotic Voldemort’s decision to let Delphie bring Nagini was.”Well, you did telll them to bring their favourite thing. Book, toy, pet, anything. She brought a pet.“

“It’s a giant snake,“Neville says with the air of someone who thinks that’s all that needs to be said.

“She,“Voldemort corrects.

“She’s a giant snake,“Neville says.

“To be fair, Delphie says she told you she was bringing a giant snake,“Voldemort points out. Neville falters.”Well, yes, I just didn’t think it was an actual giant snake.“

“No problem at all, could have happened to anyone.“ Bellatrix gets up and smiles.”Have a nice day, then. Goodbye.“

“Goodbye,“Neville echoes, not entirely sure what just happened.

5) Herding a bunch of overexcited ten-year-olds through an amusement park is about the most exhausting and quite possibly horrifying thing either of them ever had to do. (And theirs is a messy, _messy_ business.)

“Next time Delphie tells us what she wants for her birthday,“Voldemort says, falling into bed with a sigh,”we tell her all amusement parks, swimming pools, and anything else of the sort are closed forever.“

“Or we put it in her head that it would be _so much_ more fun with Uncle Draco and Roddy,“Bella suggests. Voldemort grins as he leans in to kiss her.”You, my dear, are truly evil.“


	19. First War AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: ANOTHER Voldemort wins au but if he won during the first wizarding war and not the second one (and maybe Harry aged delphie?)

1) Bellatrix rolls over in his bed to look at the Dark Lord.“All I am saying is that it seems a little ridiculous.“

“So you’ve been pointing out for a while,“he says, as testily as he can manage. It’s rather unfortunate that she’s so delicious when she argues. He’s rarely challenged, these days.”There’s no point in risking letting some brat grow up and no harm in killing it.“

She’s pouting, the silly girl. He really shouldn’t be so indulgent with her.”But it’s so _vague_. What is it even supposed to mean, defy you? Depending on how you look at it, I defy you all the time. I’m defying you right this second, you know.“

“You _annoy_ me all the time, pet, it’s rather different.“ He trails his fingers across her stomach; she’s only just starting to show.”You’re not getting all sentimental about babies, are you?“

The playful pout gives way to a glare that would make anyone else shudder.”Do not pull the uterus card on me. You can ask Crouch what happens then.“

He can’t help the wince at that.”You wouldn’t.“ (She _couldn’t_ , but there’s a time and a place.)

“Probably not,“she admits.”But you know what they say. Hormonal, crazy, all that.“

2) It’s hard to imagine some brat having the power to defeat him when he’s looking at his little daughter. She’s so small and defenseless and ridiculously perfect.

“I might go hear the prophecy for myself,“he says, absently. Bellatrix doesn’t point out that she’s been trying to convince him of that for months. She also swallows the comment that he’s getting sentimental about babies. She knows he’s lenient when it comes to her, but she also knows there’s a line she shouldn’t cross.

(The prophecy in its entirety is even more vague and ridiculous than the fraction he knew of. He doesn’t bother with it any further.)

3) He lets his followers have the simple things they desire - Minister of Magic, head of the MLE, any post at all as the Wizarding World falls at his feet.

Those titels are meaningless to the Heir of Slytherin, meaningless to someone as powerful as him.

It doesn’t stop him from agreeing when Bellatrix brings up the idea of taking kingship back from the Muggles. They watered their bloodlines down so much that these days, they don’t even know their ancestors had magical blood. It’s only right he should wipe their bloodtraitorous offspring off the face of the earth.

(Delphie and Draco enjoy racing along the halls of Buckingham Palace. A crown suits Bella just as well as blood on her hands.)

4) Her name is called and the whispers follow her towards the Sorting Hat.

_Did she say Gaunt Is it her The Dark Lord’s daughter I didn’t think she’d come Oh Merlin it’s her_

She’s smirking, and the Hat barely touches her head when it cries out,”SLYTHERIN!“

Dumbledore’s eyes follow her as she makes her way to the green and silver table; she doesn’t deign to glance at him. Perhaps he wonders why Father sent him an unwitting hostage. Perhaps he realises he’ll die soon. It doesn’t matter. He is nothing to her.

She picks a seat where she can see best, and the fourth year gives it up without any protest. His friend follows when Delphie turns to her with a polite smile that nevertheless brooks no objections,”Do you mind? My cousin’ll join me in a minute.“

After dinner, she opens the Chamber and cleanses the school, just like Father told her to. Dumbeldore first, to snuff out all resistance. They don’t have to hide in the shadows. Not anymore.

(Delphie doesn’t know why he said that part, but nodded sagely all the same. She grew up a princess and the idea of hiding from anyone seems absurd. But she suppose Father must know what he’s saying.)

5) A seer tries to buy his life with a prophecy, some spiel about how his knowledge can save the Dark Lord.

But he’s too powerful, now, to even think of defeat. He smiles at his queen, her eyes bright with delight as she looks at the would-be-seer, her soon-to-be toy.

“I don’t believe in prophecy.“


	20. Mafia AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Delphi in a mafia au

1) They are set in their ways, those ruthless men who’ve treated her like a princess all her life.

They can’t see her place in Father’s organisation. They’ve barely accepted Mother as one of their own. (She ruined that for her, Delphie thinks sometimes, guiltily, heartbroken, ashamed. Degraded her from his best lieutenant back to his mistress, a mother, _her_ mother.)

2) They think Mother has given her a love for all things pretty, a gentle touch, a softness.

They do love pretty things. Lipstick as red as the blood of the insubordinate. Dresses paid for with a job done well. The flowers you send their widows.

There’s nothing soft about either of them. 

3) Father is tempted to cow them into obedience, but they both know it wouldn’t be the same. She wants true loyalty. (Tinged with fear, admittedly.)

He gives her a territory of her own. She picks among his ranks, but among their wives, sisters, daughters, too.

She’s not the only one who has had enough of their stuffy boys’ club.

(Mother looks on fondly, but she’d never stray far from Father’s side.)

4) Stepping onto their firm believes (stepping over corpses) is twice as much fun in a nice pair of heels, flowery summer dress swinging around her legs.

Victoire smiles at her, cheeks flushed with excitement, flowers in her hair, gun in hand.

5) The old men who thought their lord’s daughter would always be just their little princess feel like the fools they are when their sons growel to be allowed to work with her instead of them.

Delphie has the true, bone-deep loyalty that has nothing to do with her father she always wanted.


	21. Siren AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Cursed child mermaid / siren au !!!

1) Delphie knows how things are supposed to be: you lure them in, you kill them, you go on. It’s easy. It’s safe.

(Delphie knows how things can be: Mother fell in love and she’s never been the same since. Or so Aunt Cissa says. Delphie, of course, only happened after Mother’s madness. Born out of it.)

Delphie is terrified. Delphie never admits it. They already think her weak, with her mixed blood.

2) They visit Father sometimes.

Mother bargained and pleaded and threatend, and she kept him alive. (It’s a half-life, a cursed life, but he is as immortal as they are, and that seems to be enough.)

Delphie’s scared here, too.

3) She drowns them without so much as looking at them. She cannot follow in Mother’s mad foot steps. She cannot stand the idea of something as foolish as falling in love.

4) The sailor doesn’t react, and suddenly it’s Delphie that’s being lured in.

It’s fascination - no reaction to her song at all, but a smile and a wave instead. She swims closer. The sailor leans over the railing, just out of her reach.”Hello there. Would you mind terribly telling me how to get to the next island? Only your friends drowned my navigator.“

Delphie giggles, slaps a hand over her mouth in shock.”Not afraid I’ll drown you, too?“

“A little,“Victoire allows.”But I’ll just have to be careful.“

“I can show you,“Delphie offers, fascinated. She’s heard of the immune, the aces, but she’s never met one. Victoire smiles.”I’d like that.“

5) She follows the ship, and they are happy.

She follows it until Victoire is old, she follows her until she’s dead.

It hurts more than she thought possible. But she thinks of her father and mother, and decides this was the right way to do things.

Even if it's agony.


	22. Auror AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Not sure if you're still doing these? AU where delphi does go to hogwarts and becomes an auror while low key being "the augurey" aka the leader of the death eaters that are left

1) Mama is crying, and she doesn’t know why. She just showed her how the snakes did what she tells them to. She just wanted her to be excited with her.

“Her father would be so proud,“Mama sobs, as Papa pats her back and Delphie frowns.”What do you mean? Papa’s right here.“

They exchange a look, a long and meaningful look. Mama wipes away her tears, Papa sighs heavily.

Then they tell her.

2) “Do you remember what we talked about, love?“ Mama leans down to smooth out her robes. Delphie nods solemnly.”I keep the Parseltongue quiet. I keep my looks like now, so I look like you and Papa. I don’t let anyone know I’m not a Rowle.“

“There’s a good girl,“Papa says.”Your father would be very proud, sweetling.“

She flushes with delight, and hugs her parents tightly.

3) She finishes school with eight Outstanding N.E.W.T.s and endless possibilities. She joins the aurors, and smiles into Potter’s face, knowing she’ll be his downfall one of these days. But she can bide her time.

One day, when he compliments her on her non-verbal spells, she says,”My father has a knack for them.“

(She almost slips into past tense. Papa is horrid with non-verbal spells.)

“Well, your father must be very proud of you,“he says, and he truly means it. Poor fool.

4) She amasses followers. Father’s old ones, but knew ones, too. The pureblood grapevine spreads the rise of her ideals. Those who were at Malfoy Manor at the end of the last war put the pieces together. No one outright says that they know who she really is.

“Your father,“ says Draco, carefully, testing the water, afraid of finding out she doesn’t know who she is, afraid of her knowing,”would be very proud of you.“

She doesn’t correct him, doesn’t say _Yes, he is_ , only nods, and smiles. (The smile is very familiar. He doesn’t know if that should scare him more or less.)

5) Narcissa has kept an eye on her niece all these years, but she couldn’t have guessed what had happened behind the facade. (She’s donated abundant sums to her cause, mostly out of guilt, of misplaced pain, but she hadn’t realised that Delphie _knew_.)

But she’s here now, standing across the room from the new Minister of Magic. The Dark Lady in all but title.

Narcissa politely nods to the woman who raised her sister’s child when she couldn’t, waits for her to leave, then steps towards the young woman.”Delphie.“

It comes out half a sob.

Delphie moves closer, pretence of aloofness shattering, and draws her aunt into a hug.”I did it. I finished it. For them.“

Narcissa holds her tight, trying to unite the memory of the baby she last held so many years ago with this political genius, this child-woman desperate for approval. She frightens her. She loves her. She tells her what she wants to hear.”Bella would be so proud of you.”


	23. Voldemort Wins AU 6 (the one with all the hugs)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: AU Delphinus huggin her Father, please :)

1) “Oh, I forgot her teddy.” Bellatrix hands the baby to the Dark Lord.“I’ll just go - what are you doing?”

He has Delphie an arm’s length away from his body, grasping her rather awkwardly by the armpits.“Holding the baby.”

“That’s not how you hold a baby.” She stares at him blankly, wondering if he might be joking. (The last person who accused him of joking found that to be the last thing they ever did.)

“Hang on.” She thinks back over the last two weeks. Apart from right after her birth, she can’t remember him picking Delphie up at all.“Have you not held the baby yet?”

He glares at her rather than answering, which really is answer enough. Bellatrix sighs.”Just - just sort of hold her like a quaffle.“

“This _is_ how I would hold a quaffle.“

She just about manages to choke back the laughter that rises in her chest, fighting it down firmly as she helps him settle Delphie against his shoulder the way the baby likes best. Then she goes to fetch the teddy bear.

She takes her sweet time, and pauses to look over the banister on her way back.

He’s drawing soothing circles on Delphie’s back, his cheek resting atop her head as he’s hissing gently. She doesn’t know what he’s saying, of course, but it warms her heart nonetheless.

(”Please don’t cry. I wouldn’t know what to do. Your mother already thinks I’m an idiot.“)

2) “She says she won’t take her nap until you give her a hug,“Bellatrix says, trailing into the room after their daughter, stepping around the Death Eater currently being punished.

Delphie holds her arms out to her Father and he lifts her onto her lap, wrapping one arm around her as she snuggles up to him.”M comfy, Mummy. I nap here.“

Bellatrix raises an eyebrow in question. The Dark Lord merely nods, casting another Cruciatus. Bellatrix purses her lips in annoyance as her fellow Death Eater screeches in pain.” _Really_?“

“Oh. Sorry.“ He puts a silencing charm on the man before continuing. 

“That’s better.” Bella smiles and runs her fingers through Delphies’s hair.”Just put her to bed when you’re done, yes?“

3) Delphie is screaming at the top of her lungs, clutching at her bloodied knee.

(Logically, he knows it isn’t serious, but his heart is racing frantically as he picks her up, rocks and shushes her.)

“I want my mummy,“she sobs. Voldemort kisses the top of her head before setting her down on the window sill to get a proper looks at her knee.”Well, she’s not here, is she?“

He casts a quick spell to fix her up.”There you go. All better.“

“A bit,“Delphie admits, sniffling and wiping at her eyes.”You have to do the song now.“

He considers going to find Bella and telling her to drop the mission. Or maybe Narcissa could - but no. He resents the idea of asking for help. He does his best to remember the words he’s supposed to say.

“Pat it, kiss it, stroke it, hug it,“he mutters, refusing to actually do the melody as he acts the silly song out. Delphie doesn’t seem to mind, giggling wetly.”Three days sunshine, three days rain. Little knee all well again.“

“All well again,“Delphie repeats happily, burrowing into his arms.

4) Both Bellatrix and Delphie are very firmly pretending they’re not about to start crying as the latter is getting ready to board the Hogwarts Express for the first time.

“We’ll see you at Christmas,“Bella says, smoothing out Delphie’s hair and robes.”Ask Uncle Rod if anything’s wrong. And we’re only a floo call away.“

“She’ll be perfectly fine,“the Dark Lord cuts in testily.”You’re being silly, both of you.”

(In the end, Bellatrix has to pry Delphie out of his arms so she doesn’t miss the train.)

5) “I can’t believe you’re already graduating,“he says, and he really can’t. Delphie laughs and gives him a quick hug.”You sound like such an old man right now.“

“Well, he is,“Bellatrix puts in helpfully, hugging their daughter aswell before she runs off to join her friends.

They look after her and Bellatrix leans against his shoulder with a sigh.”I can’t believe it, either.“


	24. First War AU 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Au where delphi succeeds in getting voldemort to not kill harry

1) He considers her warning, regards her coldly.”And why should you have any interest in helping me? Assuming I believe that cock-and-bull timetravel story of yours.“

“I’m your daughter,“she says, pleadingly, defiantly, the Parseltongue almost enough to convince him.”Do I need another reason?“

“You need to convince me.“ 

She’s nonsensical. She knows the prophecy, more fully than he does, and she warned him against letting the brat’s mother sacrifice herself more than killing it. Pointless if she’s Dumbledore’s agent. The notion of a child of his own is equally absurd as the idea of her standing here decades before her birth.

Her features change, and he can’t help the smirk as he realises she’s a Metamorphmagus.”Ah, of course. Bella, then?“

(That, at least, makes sense.)

2) “Your daughter,“Rodolphus repeats, and Bellatrix shrugs.”Honestly, I have no idea. That’s who the Dark Lord says she is, anyway.“

They look over at the young woman who is currently cooing over little Draco while a very bewildered Lucius makes casual conversation. (Smalltalk - the last defence of the aristocratic pureblood.)

“I’m just glad he’s off that stupid prophecy now,“Bella says.”The temporal paradox I can get behind.“

Her husband grins.”You just like that he had absolutely no trouble believing you’d be the mother of his child.“

“Well, yes, that too, obviously.“

3) He keeps an eye on the Potter brat and, true to Delphie’s word, he is utterly unremarkable.

The Potters don’t know their Fidelius charm has been rendered useless, and they don’t know Wormtail is still passing him information. He realises the subtle contradictions, the omissions in Snape’s reports.

Dumbledore loses his spy. Voldemort doesn’t.

Dynamics switch in his favour.

4) He gives Hogwarts to his daughter. She always wanted to go there, and now she has complete control of the castle.

She squeals in delight like a small child, and he allows her the transgression.

Afterall, she is the reason his empire stands.

5) Rigel Gaunt doesn’t get homesick like all the other firsties. And why would she? Her big sister is there to look after her.


	25. Delphie travels to the 1940s AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: But also a trashy one where she travels back to like the 40s (while the chamber is open?) and Tom riddle reacts to her existence

1) She enters the Chamber, giddy with excitement, and he almost kills her on the spot. But he’s intrigued, too.

“Hello, Father,“she says in Parseltongue, tone conversational, smile on her face. He steps closer, commands the basilisk to keep his eyes shut.”Who are you?”

She must be mad, or somehow seeking to deceive him. Here she is, a good five years older than him by the looks of her, and calling him father.

She explains, about the timetravel, and his downfall, and she knows things she couldn’t possibly know.

He searches her face. There’s something about her cheekbones that rings of him. And her eyes are familiar, even if they are not his.

“Your mother?“he questions. He tries his best not to sound genuinely interested. Her small smile tells him he didn’t succeed.

“Not born yet, I’m afraid,“Delphie says.”Her name’s Bellatrix. I suppose you must know my grandfather. Cygnus Black.”

He nods as he realises why her eyes are so familiar.

2) He kills Dumbledore, frames little Rubeus Hagrid, gets an award and keeps Hogwarts open by closing the Chamber.

He almost didn’t dare attack Dumbledore, but Delphie said he would be trouble for decades to come, so he chances the risk.

It’s quite regrettable that she erased herself from existence by warning him and changing his fate, but he’s too busy making new plans to dwell on it much.

3) He leaves the country after graduating and builds himself some very valuable foreign contacts.

He returns, now going by the name Gaunt, and goes into politics. The military takeover didn’t work, Delphie said, so he tries a different path in this reality.

And it gives him a wonderful excuse to rekindle his friendship with Cygnus, who is well respected amongst the Ministry workers, whose wife has just given birth to their first child.

She really is called Bellatrix.

(He works his way up to Minister of Magic, all the while keeping an eye on Bellatrix.)

4) She shows signs of magic very early, affects her role of good pureblooded scion perfectly, but there’s a fire underneath, barely hidden. The same touch of greatness bordering on madness that Dumbledore must have seen in him, that day in the orphanage.

He understands why he became obsessed with her in another world.

(Bella’s twelve when he admits to himself that he _is_ obsessed with her. She’s fourteen when he notices she is completely infatuated with him. She’s sixteen when he realises he wants her. She’s eighteen when he talks Cygnus into the betrothal. Despite his age, despite the blemish in his blood, he is an exceptionally good match.)

5) She looks happy, but there’s a smidge of apprehension.”It’s a girl.“

The _I’m sorry_ seeps through the words. He kisses her worries away.

“Delphinus,“he says.”Let’s call her Delphinus.“


	26. Delphie goes to Hogwarts AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: an au where delphi got to attend hogwarts !!

1) She sits on the Hogwarts Express, excited and beaming, waving at Mama and Papa until they are out of sight.

Another firstie knocks, standing in the open doorway.”Is it okay if I sit here? Everywhere else is full.“

“Sure,“she says, and he plops down in the seat across from her.”Hi. I’m Teddy Lupin.“

“Delphie,“she says, not showing any reaction to betray that this is her cousin, this is her blood, this is a traitor’s traitor daughter’s son,”Delphie Rowle.“

His eyebrows raise at the name - Deather Eater family, he clearly thinks, but he moves past it quickly.”Fancy a game of chess?“

“Sounds good,“she says.

_My mother killed yours_ , she thinks.

(She’s not supposed to know that, but she overheard Mama and Papa talking, and she knows they’re not really her parents.)

2) She sits in the common room, running her fingers across the arm chair she’s sitting in and wonders if Father sat here, once.

She lies in bed and dreams it might have been Mother’s.

She mixes potions, and learns spells, and maps out the movement of stars, and feels ever closer to the parents she never knew.

3) “You can come sit with me,“she offers the new firstie, who’s looking up and down the Slytherin table uncertainly. Everyone’s still staring at her in disbelieve. She doesn’t quite know what just happened, either.

Thankful, she sinks down next to Delphie as she scoots over. Delphie gives her an encouraging smile.”No worries, Victoire, we don’t bite.“

4) Mama is not impressed when she invites the Weasley girl over for the holidays but she lets it slide. She lets a lot of things slide that she wouldn’t if Delphie were actually her own flesh and blood.

It seems like sacrilige to forbid His child anything. (She finds it impossible to say no to Bella’s eyes, anyway.)

5) Being Head Girl has a lot of perks. What Delphie likes most is that she can put Victoire and herself onto patrol duty together whenever they feel like it.

Victoire lets out a small gasp as Delphie’s teeth dig into her lip, burying her hands deeper into her hair.”What ever happened to ‘we don’t bite’, Del?“

“Want me to stop?“Delphie says, knowing the answer.

Victoire gives her a reproachful glare.”Don’t even think about it.“


	27. Delphie goes to warn Bella AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Delphi goes back in time and meets HER MOTHER instead.

1) “Where is she?“Harry mutters impatiently. They’re all on edge. They expected her to show up by now.”Where the hell is she?“

Voldemort’s daughter doesn’t arrive. He does, however. No one stops him as he enters the Potter’s house.

2) A scream of utter despair is the first she hears of her mother in over twenty years. She moves closer, unlocks the door with a tap of her wand, steps inside.

Little Draco is crying at the ruckus, Narcissa is desperately trying to calm everyone, Rabastan is frozen in horror as he clutches at his fading Mark, and Mother is now screaming furiously at her fellows, tears streaming freely down her face.

“Bellatrix, we can’t,“Barty interrupts, and she has him by the throat before anyone can react, wand digging into his cheek.”You pathetic little excuse of a -“

“Bella,“Rodolphus says soothingly, and she releases Crouch.”We’ll find him, Bella.“

“Not through the Longbottoms, though,“Delphie says.

They all spin around to stare at her. Even Draco falls silent in confusion. Mother’s wand points at her heart. She smiles a little at that.”I’m here to help. Bellatrix, a word in private, perhaps?“

3) “You’re my child,“she says, tonelessly, not allowing herself any sort of reaction.”You’re my child from the future.“

Delphie sighs.“I realise this sound really rid-“

“Do you?“ Bellatrix interrupts her.”Do you really?“

She’s rubbing at her fading Mark and Delphie knows that she desperately _wants_ to believe her. She’s just not there, yet. But she’s wavering, so Delphie remains silent, until her mother gives in.”I need to find him.“

“I can help you.“ She’s said it a few times already. This time Bellatrix seems to believe her.”Won’t you erase yourself by doing that?“

“Maybe,“Delphie admits.”It’s a risk worth taking, for his vision.“

Bellatrix truly believes this is her daughter, then. She hugs her for a long while before going to restore the Dark Lord to greatness.

4) In less than a fortnight Lord Voldemort is found by his most loyal and returned to his body.

His hand on her cheek feels exactly as it always did and she leans into his touch with a sigh.”How did you find me so fast?“

“You’d never believe me if I told you.“ She smiles, and he doesn’t press her on the matter. He thinks he likely doesn’t want to know.

5) She’s proud of the daughter she never had. It’s a strange feeling, almost of loss. But she never had anything to lose in the first place.

She never wanted a child, never dwelled on the thought, but suddenly she feels as if something is missing.

“I want a baby,“she says into the bedroom, staring down at her hands. Voldemort looks up from his book, stares at her in surprise for what feels like an eternity, and then shrugs.”All right.“


	28. Delphie at Hogwarts in the 90s AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: omg give me an au where delphie was born during the first wizarding war and got to attend hogwarts w pansy and they started their own girl gang within hogwarts ( with a bunch of baddass slytherin girls like astoria and daphne etc. basically they're all girl marauders w a slytherin touch ) this is what i live for girl gangs will be the death of me

1) Delphie strides down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express, Pansy and Daphne at her heels, peering into compartment after compartment until she finds one with only one person sitting in it. It’s as empty as they’ll find at this point, she guesses.

Her friends nod at her questioning look and she pushes the door open.”Hello. Your first year, too?“

The girl nods, a bit timid, but gestures for them to sit down.”I’m Tracey Davis.“

The other three exchange glances at this. Not a pureblood. A Yaxley mother, though, if she isn’t mistaken.

Delphie sees the defiant clench in Tracey’s jaw, the nervous hope in her eyes. She knows her, apparently, or maybe Pansy, or Daphne.

“Delphie Gaunt,“she says, and shakes Tracey’s hand. The other two follow suit.

(Tracey’s sorted into Slytherin almost as quickly as Delphie, and a good deal faster than Daphne, who refuses to tell them where the Hat tried to stick her.)

2) They paint eachother’s nails with intricate designs in green and silver, little augureys on their thumbs. They found the birds in _Fantastic Beasts_ and thought they were pretty cool. And anyway, they needed a way to make their gang a little more exclusive.

(Slytherins have an annoying tendency to think themselves almost royal, Delphie remarked once, scathingly, happily ignoring that she thought it well within her rights to be treated like a princess on the basis of her blood.)

3) “What are you doing in our forrest?“the centaur demands. Delphie purses her lips in annoyance, but Pansy beats her to it, snapping,”Oh, yours, is it? Seems to me it belogns to the school.“

“We’re just looking for something,“Daphne says, apeacingly. Tracey has her hand in her pocket, ready to draw her wand at any second.

“What could human young seek in our forrest?“he questions. Delphie grins at him brightly.”Adventure.“

4) Pansy crawls into her bed, makes sure the curtains are properly closed and casts a silencing charm. Delphie watches her, waiting for an explanation.

“I’ve never kissed anyone,“Pansy blurts out. Delphie sits up.”Okay? So?“

Pansy looks distraught.”So what if I’m really bad at it?“

“Is this about Draco?“ Her stomach does a weird little wriggle at the idea of her cousin kissing Pansy; she can’t really say what it is. It’s definetly not a nice feeling, though.

Her friend shrugs.”Yes. No. I don’t know. I’m just - what if I’m a rubbish kisser?“

“D’you -“ Delphie hesitates.”D’you wanna maybe practice?“

“Oh, yes, please.“

(Three weeks of sneaking into eachother’s beds at night - three weeks of Daphne rolling her eyes and pretending not to notice - and then Delphie decides she can’t take it anymore.”So. Have you kissed Draco yet?“

“What?“ Pansy looks genuinely bewildered, then seems to remember how this started.”Oh. I - I don’t think I want to do that anymore, actually.“

“Oh?“ Delphie’s heart feels like it might explode.”So what does that mean?“

Pansy shrugs, beetred.”I dunno. What do you think?“

Daphne tears the curtains open, looking exasperated.”You’re gay, you idiots!”“

She stomps back to her own bed. Delphie giggles.”You know, I think she’s right.“

Pansy nods.”Could have told us sooner, couldn’t she?“)

5) “I cannot imagine what another student could have done for you to react in such an outrageous way,“Snape says, rather mildly. Had McGonogall not caught them, Delphie doubts she would be punished at all. He’s the first to taunt Potter and his cronies at every turn.

She inspects her nails with a bored expression, fully aware that all eyes are on her. Then she looks up with a smile.”It’s not that she did anything. It’s more the fact that she exists, really.“

Pansy chuckles, just this side of nasty, just the way Delphie loves. Daphne’s grinning. Tracey looks nervous, and almost guilty.

Snape’s eyes widen as if she’s slapped him. She briefly wonders what that is about. Not that she cares. Head of House or not, he’s still a greasy git.

6) Tracey makes the Quidditch team, first Slytherin girl in years. They throw her a massive party in the common room, where an out-of-control game of _truth or dare_ ends with seven broken ribs, four small fires, Astoria and Draco snogging in a corner, Blaise Zabini announcing he’s gay to the surprise of exactly no one, and Delphie’s hair died silver and blue. She almost cries until Pansy tells her she adores it and showers her with kisses.

(Daphne is taking pictures the whole time and has blackmail material on everyone over third year for _years_.)

7) They get matching augurey tattoos the night of graduation, full of dreams and excitement and firewhiskey.


	29. Delphie talks to Voldemort AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: AU where Delphie actually talks to Voldemort on 31/10/81 cause Harry&co don't stop her? Or are you looking for vague non-spoiler AU's because I did read the script today.

1) He grasps her chin, turns her face this way and that, his eyes giving nothing away.

“I suppose you do look like Bella,“he finally admits grudgingly. The Parseltongue alone has him almost convinced, truly, but he is always overly cautious. It’s the reason he decided to view a toddler as a threat.”You must admit that your story isn’t very believable.“

Delphie bites her lips, nodding.”I know, Father. But you mustn’t do this. It’ll be your downfall.“

“So I should leave the Potters alone, is that it?“ Mayhaps she’s some scheme of Dumbledore’s, albeit more devious than he’d give the old man credit for.

“No.“ She shrugs.”Kill them, I don’t care. Just kill the mother after the brat. Or don’t give her the opportunity to back down.“

Now _that_ sounds like a daughter of his.

2) Snape is an exceptional legilimence, even the Dark Lord has to admit as much. But any mind can be broken, if it’s weakend enough. A strong mind resides in a strong body, they say. He takes remidial action.

Bella never trusted him. He hands Snape over to her, and within the day he is begging to confess his treasons. 

(A few hours later, he is desperately begging for death. He takes his sweet time granting that wish.)

3) He kills the Longbottoms, too, just to be safe. Neither Frank nor Alice get the opportunity to beg for their son’s life, or offer theirs in return.

His rise to power continues.

4) Bella stares at him, wide-eyed, voice a breathless whisper.”You want me to give you an heir?“

It’s as if he offered to lay the world at her feet.

“An heir might prove useful,“he says simply.

(An heir has already proven useful. But she doesn’t know that and he doesn’t care to explain.)

5) This daughter, too, proves very useful indeed when she opens the Chamber and sets the basilisk on Dumbledore, like he should have done all those years ago.


	30. Delphie at Hogwarts with Slytherin!Harry AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: If you're still doing the minific meme an au where Delphi is in Harry's year?

1) “Write us if anything’s wrong,”Lucius tells them before turning to Delphie.“And remember not to let anyone know -“

“I’m not an idiot, Uncle,“she cuts him off, rolling her eyes dramatically.”My birth certificate says Lestrange. My Hogwarts letter says Lestrange. Everyone calls me Lestrange. Do you really think I’ll forget to react to it?“

Auntie Cissa brushes her hair out of her face.“Just be careful, love.“

She nods to that, and they head to the station. Draco nudges her and they both look at the confused looking boy who’s all alone and clearly no Muggle. They point him out to Narcissa, who sighs, and somewhat reluctantly approaches him.”Hello, dear. Do you need help getting to the platform?“

He’s about to say _no, thanks_ when he sees the two kids behind her. They’d left Madame Malkins just as he entered. He nods.”Yes, please.“

(There’s whispers when the name Lestrange is called. There’s people standing up to see him better when the name Potter is called. There is dead silence when the Hat calls out Slytherin. There’s almost a riot when the Boy Who Lived sits down with Malfoy and Lestrange as if nothing was wrong in the world.)

2) “I guess that’s why You Know Who tried to kill him,“Weasley says, on Friday as they’re all waiting for their first Potions lesson, not bothering to lower his voice,”Because he didn’t want another powerful dark wizard around.“

“Very original,“Pansy says, giving Harry - who is beet red and tongue-tied - a small, encouraging smile.”Like we haven’t heard that one all week.“

The Boy Who Lived is theirs, and the rest of the school doesn’t know what to do with it. Another Gryffindor boy speaks up, glowering at Delphie rather than Harry for some reason.”Well, that’s probably because it’s true. You Slytherins are all evil scum.“

“Five points from Gryffindor, Longbottom.“ Snape stands in the open door, looking down at them with a cruel twist to his mouth before gesturing towards the classroom.”In.“

“Longbottom, is it?” Delphie takes a moment to stop and smile at the boy.”Do give my love to mum and dad.“

He fumes but there’s nothing he can do as she links arms with Pansy and marches into the classroom, followed by her grinning cousin and a slightly bewildered Harry.

(”Sir, I don’t know that, either,“Draco says when Snape picks apart Harry.

“Nor me,“Delphie adds quickly.

“Or me,“says Pansy. Harry gives them all small, thankful smiles.

Their Head of House glares at them, but turns his attention to tearing into all the mistakes Weasley is making with his potion.)

3) “Why would Dumbledore hide anything in a school?“Pansy sounded genuinely baffled.”Seems like it would be against safety regulations, doesn’t it? And not actually safer than Gringotts.“

“We should go steal whatever it is,“Harry says,”Before someone else does, and uses it for something bad.“

Delphie looks at him curiously.”Like Snape, you mean?“

“Yes. Or someone he’s working for.” Harry flushes scarlet. The Dark Lord is a touchy subject that they avoid as much as possible. Draco breaches it anyway.”Look, Harry, he won’t hurt you. We’ll tell him you’re with us.“ He pauses, uncertainly.”You are, aren’t you?“

“Of course,“he says.”You guys are my friends.“

4) Delphie doesn’t trust Snape. Harry doesn’t trust Snape. Pansy simply doesn’t _like_ Snape. And Draco doesn’t want to be left out of the fun.

In the end, only Harry and Delphie reach the room with the mirror. It all happens terribly fast, and then Delphie realises she’s standing between them without having made that decision.”Father, don’t.“

It makes everyone stop. She thinks for Harry it’s because of the Parseltongue, not realising he understands her aswell.”He’s my friend. We didn’t know it was you. We thought it was Snape. Harry’s on our side, I promise.“

And, in English,”Give him the Stone, Harry, go on.“

5) Father returned to his body, Mother freed from Azkaban, and Harry still sitting beside her in class - Hogwarts just keeps getting better and better.


	31. Harry finds out about Delphie AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: One where harry finds out about delphi right after the war and makes sure she gets raised right

1) “Oi! Wait up, Potter!“

Harry turns around to find Draco Malfoy jogging up to him.”Potter, I need a favour.“

“It’s okay, you don’t have to ask,“Harry waves him off.”After what your mother did I’m speaking for you at the trials anyway.“

Draco gives him a sheepish grin.”Right. And thanks for that. But that’s not what this is about.“ He takes a deep breath.”Well, see, my aunt - that is to say - actually, can you just come with me?“

Harry hesitates, but then nodds.

(Narcissa stares at them in wide-eyed shock when they arrive, a baby in her arms.”Draco, we said we’d find a way ourselves.“

“Well, you also said we couldn’t keep her.“ Draco takes the baby from his mother and turns back to Harry.”Potter, this is my cousin, who we really need a home for.“

“I don’t understand,”Harry starts and Draco says,”Her name’s Delphie. Delphie Gaunt.“)

2) Everyone’s shouting over eachother, and Harry’s starting to regret having called together a group of this size to discuss the matter. Orphanages have been brought up and dismissed, finding some Muggle family to take her seems to risky, and the only thing everyone can agree on is that they should keep an eye on her.

“I’ll take her,“Percy suddenly says, and they all turn to stare. He gives a small shrug.”We need someone who can give her their undivided attention.” He gives Andromeda an apologetic look. “Someone close, but not someone the Death Eaters that are left would overly concern themselves with.” A raised eyebrow towards Harry. “Someone for whom it wouldn’t seem strange to adopt a child right now.“ Hermione sinks back into her chair. She does want to go get her NEWTs. “So? Anyone know someone more fitting?“

(What that baby really needs, he thinks, is someone who won’t try to raise her away from her _nature_ every day of her life. They mean well, but the idea is rather ridiculous. The un-Weasleyest Weasley knows a thing or two about that.)

3) The family learns to accept the baby in their midst in little ways, until no one thinks of her as anything but Percy’s daughter:

  * Molly just can’t help herself when a pair of chubby hands stretch towards her in the universal gesture of pick-me-up. And it’s been so long since she got to knit sweaters this tiny.
  * Arthur has a patient audience for all the little Muggle tidbits Harry gives him, and the realisation that a toddler can figure out Hermione’s Muggle toys much more easily than him.   
(”So what is the function of a rubber duck?“he muses, and Delphie grabs it from his hand.”It squeaky.“)
  * Delphie enjoys chasing the shrieking chesspieces along with Crookshanks. Sighing, Ron sits her down and shows her what they’re really for. By the time she’s five she can wipe the floor with half of the Ministry when Percy brings her to work for Father-Daughter-Day, the tiny chess set Uncle Ron gave her tucked under her arm.  
(”What do you have there?“Kingsley asks her. He sorely regrets it when she smiles at him toothily only ten minutes later.”Checkmate.“)
  * “C’mon, I’ll teach you to fly.“ Ginny picks her niece up and marches to the broomshed.”Don’t let them pull that boys’s club shit on you.“  
(”Shit,”Delphie repeats happily.”Shit, shit, shit.”  
“Oh, fuck, don’t say that.” Ginny blanches.”Oh crap, don’t say fuck either. Or crap. Dammit.”)
  * “Who taught you that word?“Percy asks, scandalised, when he later asks if she’d like more potatoes and Delphie enthusiatically replies,”Fuck yes!“  
She glances at Ginny before turning back to her father, look of innocence on her face.”Uncle George did.“  
(”I’m too proud to be mad,“George says later, wiping an imaginary tear out of his eye.)



4) Delphie learns she’s not actually a Weasley bit by bit:

  * She and Teddy go with Auntie Dromeda to see the Malfoys every now and again. None of the other Weasley children ever come along.  
(Auntie Cissa knows how to do her hair all fancy. Delphie loves it. Percy tries his hardest but never gets the braids quite right.)
  * She doesn’t have a mum. Dad doesn’t have any pictures of a girlfriend from the right time. She checked all the albums and boxes in the attic. He never talks about her mum, either. It takes until Louis’s birth for her to realise that the first pictures of her with Dad show up when she’s already months old.  
(Orphaned in the war, he tells her. She’s sad, a little, but it’s okay. She can’t remember her dead parents, anyways.)
  * They all help Uncle Harry clean up Grimmauld Place when she stumbles across the picture. She shows it to Teddy, giggling.”Look, that girl looks like me.“  
“That’s so weird,“he agrees.”Hey, Uncle Harry! Look, who is that?“  
And that’s how she finds out about Bellatrix Lestrange, and why Dad would of course never mention her mother.
  * She puts all the pieces together in History of Magic in third year, when the school deems them old enough to properly learn about the Second War and Voldemort. The word _Parselmouth_ burns into her brain, and she wants to cry, or maybe run and hide.  
(But Teddy caught it, too, and holds her hand under the table through the rest of the lesson. And skips Transfiguration with her so they can get hot chocolate in the kitchens instead.)



5) “Dad, don’t put that up,“she says, feigning embarrassment, actually rather flattered. Percy gives her an incredulous look, placing the framed newspaper clipping onto the mantle.”Are you kidding? That’s staying up forever.“

Hermione’s giving a speech in the picture, but Delphie’s there, too, off to the left. _Minister of Magic Hermione Granger-Weasley and Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic Delphie Weasley,_ the caption proclaims.


	32. Scream Queens AU (sort of)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Scream queens esque au where delphi just wants to serial kill everyone in revenge for what happened to her parents

1) It starts as a series of unfortunate incidents that no one even thinks to try to link to eachother.

Astoria’s early death is put down to a genetic disorder. They don’t check for slow acting poisons.

That a poisonous snake finds its way into the greenhouse isn’t suspicious. Professor Longbottom just had the bad luck of having his wand out of reach, no way to call for help.

Scorpius and Albus - now here’s the real tragedy. They were so young. But boys will be boys, and the Forbidden Forest is no places to seek adventure.

(Delphie’s happy when suspicious whispers arise after Shacklebolt gets stabbed. She wants them to suspect. Just enough that they go on in fear.)

2) She’s humming the lullaby under her breath, half-remembered, half-contrived, never sure whether it’s memory or wish.

But it doesn’t matter, not really, because Teddy has a fondness for Muggle horror flicks and the sound makes him shudder, and he’s so deliciously frightened before she even steps out of the shadows.

3) Narcissa doesn’t look surprised when Delphie turns up at her house. She just looks sad, and old, and utterly defeated.

Lucius takes one look at her, sighs, and turns to his wife.”We should have put an end to her when we had the chance.“

“Now’s not the time for _I told you so_ , Lucius.“ It’s a gentle reprimand.

Delphie kills them quickly. She won’t get any begging out of them, and that’s just no fun.

4) Killing Victoire is oddly unfullfilling. She wonders what she did wrong. Maybe she should have taken more time to do it.

She tests that out on Potter, and it makes her much, much happier.

5) She’s saved Molly Weasley for last. Everything and everyone she loved taken away from her. Well, almost.

Delphie has the last remaining Weasley child safely balanced in the crook of her arm, and she can see that this frightens Molly more than the wand pointed at her heart.

“I’m not killing this one,“she says, softly,”Not like all the others. That Hugo was quite the little screamer, did you know? His sister wouldn’t even cry. I was almost impressed.“

She pauses for a reply she’s not expecting, then continues.”But she was too old to keep. Would have resented me too much. Let’s hope little Lucy takes after cousin Rose. For her sake.“

“Why are you doing this?“ It’s barely more than a whisper. Delphie smiles, and there’s a flicker of recognition, of utter confusion on Molly’s face.”Because you killed my mother, you bitch.“


	33. Delphie x Ebony AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Can you do a drabble where Delphie hooks up with Ebony Darkness Dementia Raven Way? And what's everyone's reaction to it?

1) “What are you looking at, prep?“

Delphie glances up from her book.”Excuse me?“

“You heard me.“ A girl in pink fishnets stands very much in her personal space.”I don’t like preps staring at me.“

“I wasn’t even looking at you,“Delphie says and turns back to her book. The girl sits down next to her.”So, like, you just sit here by yourself and ignore everyone?“

“Yeah.“ She doesn’t even look up this time.

“Huh.“ The girl scoots a bit closer.”That’s pretty goth.“

2) “And then I put my middle finger up at him.“ Ebony takes a long drag of her cigaret before handing it to Delphie.”Fucking poser prep.“

“Why are you telling me this?“ Delphie accepts the cigaret, raises her eyebrows at the purple lipstick marks on the filter, shrugs, and raises it to her lips.”Are we friends now or something?“

Ebony takes the cigaret back, accidentally-on-purpose brushing her fingers against Delphie’s lips in the process.”Goths don’t have friends. We have companions in suffering. Friends are for fucking preps.“

“So we’re not friends, then?“ So far, Delphie can’t decide whether she finds Ebony more funny or annoying. She receives a scowl in return, though she could swear Ebony was fighting a smile.”Whatever, Despair, so we’re fucking friends like preps.“

“It’s Delphie, actually.“

“I know. It’s your new nickname. Because it’s gothic.“

3) “But isn’t dating for preps?“ Delphie can’t help teasing Ebony, really. She rolls her heavily eyeliner ringed eyes.”It’s so totally differnt when it’s the Blood Ball. Because the Blood Ball is totally goth.“

Delphie’s still grinning.”But it would be a date? You’re asking me on a date?“

“Don’t be such a prep about it.“ Ebony looks pretty nervous, though.”So, like, are you saying yes or no?“

Instead of answering, Delphie pulls her close and kisses her.

(Ebony puts her middle finger up at no one in particular. Just in case preps are staring.)

4) Ebony tosses back her hair, somehow managing to make it seem like some grand, tragic gesture.“I wear black on the outside because that’s how I feel on the inside.“

“Right.“ The Dark Lord tries to work out just where in life he went so horribly wrong he’s now sitting here, having this - for lack of a better word - conversation.”How nice.“

“I can’t tell if she’s being serious right now,“Bellatrix says, staring from her daughter to the girl she brought home for dinner. Delphie’s smiling at Ebony fondly.”Don’t worry, Mother. Most of the time I can’t tell, either.“

5) “This is just a phase, right?“ He couldn’t care less whether Delphie dates boys, girls or anyone else. But if he has to hear _That’s so goth_ one more time… The silence that follows is uncomfortably long.”Bella, tell me this is a phase.“

“It’s a phase,“Bella says, sounding very unconvincing. He sighs.”It has to be a phase. She’s seventeen, for fuck’s sake. No one knows what they want to do with their life as teenagers.“ He thinks back to opening the Chamber, to killing his disgrace of a father, to building his inner circle. Okay, so maybe some teenagers have their act together. “I mean, what did you think your life would be like at seventeen?“

Bella gives him a reproachful look, fingers ghosting over his Mark on her arm, and he’s not entirely sure whether it’s her memory or his that flits through his mind. Either way, it doesn’t really help his point.”Fuck. So what do we do?“

“Well,“she says, far too amused for his liking,”We’d better try not to be fucking poser preps.“


	34. Voldemort Wins AU 7 (the one with all the meetings)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Delphi causing mayhem at Death Eaters meetings.

1) The Dark Lord has exchanged his eerily calm tone for a raised voice. Not because he is busy tearing down a useless follower - which he is - but because Delphie is screaming her little lungs out. 

Bellatrix is getting increasingly dirty looks from the other Death Eaters, but she refused to miss the meeting and she couldn’t leave Delphie with her sister. Seperation anxiety and teething is the combination from hell.

The Dark Lord stops mid-sentence and sighs.

“Bellatrix,“he says, acutely aware of the smirks being exchanged around the table as his followers think he’ll put an end to the crying.”Give her here.“

He doesn’t see why his best lieutenant should miss any converence just because she happens to be the mother of his child.

(Delphie doesn’t stop screaming. No one dares to give the Dark Lord disapproving looks, though.)

2) “You have the potion, Severus?“ The Dark Lord holds out his hand; it isn’t really a question, since ‘no’ is not an option. Snape nods, reaches into his bag, and pales.”I had it a moment ago, my lord. I swear I -“

He’s cut off by glass shattering. Everyone turns to Delphie, who stands in a small pool of pink liquid and flinders, giving her father a sheepish smile.”Whoops?“

“That took three months to brew,“Snape says testily. Bellatrix glares at him as she gets up to make sure Delphie’s not hurt.”And it would have taken about two seconds to put a lock on that bag. Greasy git.“

Snape scowls.“Well, I could hardly expect you’d let your daughter run wild and destroy -“

“I just wanted to look at it!“Delphie exclaims indignantly.”It was so pretty!“

“I am sure,“the Dark Lord says, far too calmly,”That you are not insinuating that Delphie is at fault here?“

Nagini has already slithered closer, almost seeming expectant. Bellatrix has hoisted Delphie up on her hip and both are giving him smiles that can be called nothing short of predatory.

“Of course not,“he backtracks. This whole ‘risking his life to overthrow the Dark Lord’ business was much easier before he had to tiptoe around a child’s feelings.”I didn’t mean - I’m sorry, my lord.“

“Maybe you should apologise to Delphie,“Bellatrix says, far too sweetly. Snape looks to the Dark Lord in the feeble hope of getting away with a simple Crucio but it seems he’s out of luck. He can hear Rabastan snickering as he turns to the child.”I’m very sorry, Delphinus.“

Delphie glances at her mother before replying.”Well, if you’re really sorry, I know what you can do.“

(There used to be two options when you disappointed the Dark Lord: torture or death. The new third option is far, _far_ worse.

Pretend tea party with Delphie, tiaras and teddy bears included.

He walks into the room to find Draco and Ursula Rowle already crosslegged on the floor. Draco he expected; he’s on babysitting duty often enough.

“What did you do?“he asks Ursula, only to recieve a scathing look in return.”I actually like her, dungeon bat.“

Delphie sticks her tongue out at him before handing him a tiny, flowery teacup with a very smug grin.)

3) “What’s that?“ Delphie points at Rookwood’s face. He looks surprised, but not necessarily put out.”Pockmarks.“

She grabs a fist full of his robes to steady herself as she climbs up his chair to get a closer look.“Do they hurt? They look weird. Like they maybe hurt.“

“Delphie, don’t be rude,“Draco says, grabbing her and firmly placing her back onto the chair next to his.”Your mother said you could only come to the meeting if you behaved.“

She gives him her best puppy dog eyes.”I’m not rude. I’m just asking. He doesn’t mind, do you?“ Rookwood hastily nods.”And Father’s not here yet so it’s not yet a meeting. Mama won’t know unless you tell on me. _That_ would be rude, not asking about his funny face.“

“You can’t just ask someone why they’re pockmarked,“Draco hisses.”And don’t call his face funny.“

“Funny’s not rude, though!“ She crosses her arms and pouts.”Where’s Father? This is _boring_.“

Snape arrives before the Dark Lord, and Lucius hastens to help his comrade, who has apparently gotten on the wrong side of some very nasty curses.

“Why’s Snape uglier than usual?“Delphie wants to know, getting a stern look from Draco.”Now that defintely is rude, Delphie.“

“Not if it’s true,“Delphie mutters under her breath.

4) Delphie rolls her eyes.“Nagini, go bite him.“

“Nagini, don’t even think about it,“the Dark Lord says and the snake stops half-way to Mulciber. His daughter pouts, adressing him now, still in Parseltongue.”But he’s boring. He’s been talking for, like, half an hour.“

“No one’s making you attend, Delphinus.“ He scowls at her, and she answers with a scowl of her own.”Can’t you make Uncle Rod do it instead? Uncle Rod’s not boring.“

The Dark Lord glances at Bella, who is looking a bit too smug for his liking. She’d told him Delphie would get fidgety, dammit.“It’s not about boring, it’s about efficent.“

“So you think he’s boring, too?“

“Delphie, shut up.“

“I’m telling Mother you said that.“

5) The ear-splitting scream brings the meeting to a screeching halt. The Dark Lord and Bellatrix are out of the room in an instant, wands ready to blast whatever it is that made Delphie scream like that into smithereens.

They find her alone and perfectly healthy, albeit sobbing. She’s clutching at a strand of her hair, waving it infront of he rmother’s face.”My hair turned out all wrong!“

Bellatrix stares at the blue lock in confusion for a few seconds, but still works it out before the Dark Lord.”Your hair? You were screaming because of your _hair_?“

“It wasn’t supposed to turn blue,“Delphie sniffles. 

Realising that there was never any danger, the Dark Lord sits down heavily on the edge of the bathtub, hand pressed against his chest to calm his racing heart. Dumbledore, Potter, sort of dying once - and the thing that damn near actually killed him was Delphie messing up her hair.

“Why are you even dying your hair?“ Bellatrix sounds truly exasperated.”You’re a Metamorphmagus, for Merlin’s sake!“

“It’s not the same,“Delphie insists, gesturing to a magazine clipping of her favourite band.” _The Augureys_ all use that hair dye. It’s cool. You wouldn’t understand.“


	35. Tonks-aged Delphie AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: May I ask for an AU, where Delphi was born about 1975? After the Dark Lord's downfall, Tonks family takes her in. The little Lestrange girl looks exactly like Bella and is the most well behaved girl ever. Only she hides some things: she can speak to snakes, she can read your mind and make you hurt, her "accidental" magic was never really accidental... and she doesn't approve of Mudbloods and is bored by too friendly older sisters. So strange things start to happen in Tonks family...

1) Bellatrix kneels down and brushes Delphie's hair out of her face."Mama has to go and find your father. You be good for Auntie Cissa until I or Uncle Rod come and pick you up, alright?"

Delphie nods solemly, not quite sure why everyone seems so upset."Or if Father comes and gets me, right?"

"Right." Now Mother looks likes she's about to cry, but she just presses a kiss to Delphie's forehead and leaves.

Delphie shakes her head when Auntie Cissa suggests some games they migth play, and sits in the bay window to wait for her parents to return.

(Mama doesn't come back, nor Father, nor Uncle Rod. But Aurors come, and then Uncle Lucius's friends from the Ministry, and then a woman who says she's her auntie, too. There's a lot of crying and arguing but in the end, Auntie Cissa agrees that she should go with Andromeda.

Delphie doesn't want to. She wants to stay and wait for Mama and Father. But she's supposed to be good for Auntie Cissa, and Auntie Cissa says she should go.

But no one said she had to be good for Aunt Andromeda.)

2) Nymphadora is bouncing on her heels with excitement, hair flashing in all the colours of the rainbow, talking a lot louder and faster than Delphie finds entirely necessary."Hi! I'm Nymphadora, but you can call me Dora. I'm your cousin! We'll be like sisters, though. Don't worry, I'll share all my toys. D'you wanna go play?"

Delphie is acutely aware of the adults staring at her intently, so she smiles as brightly as she can manage."I'd like that."

(She does her best not to touch the Muggle toys Dora has. She does her best not to touch Dora, either.)

3) Delphie is still waiting for her parents. She knows they will come back to her, no matter what, but she realises it might take a while. So she settles into the Tonks household, and never lets the mask slip. ("You're a Lestrange to the world,"Mother had reminded her again and again."Until the war is won, you're a Lestrange.")

She always says _please_ , and _thank you_ , and never has tantrums. She's soft-spoken and sweet, reminds Andromeda more of Cissy, even though she is the spitting image of her mother. She wears the dresses Dora only scoffs at, and doesn't leave a hurricane-like mess in her wake whereever she goes, and has that touch of aristocracy that Andromeda would never admit to missing.

(Dora doesn't mind being told to be more like Delphie every now and again. She fiercely loves her sister, and secretly thinks it's nice that she's such a Mummy's darling, because Dora was always more of a Daddy's girl.)

4) "It wasn't on purpose."

"She didn't mean to."

"It's not like she can control it."

Delphie doesn't have to make her own excuses. They're made for her as soon as something goes wrong, or at latest as soon as she lets her lip wobble dramtically, as she says,"Is Dora going to be okay? Did I do that?"

(Of course Dora is going to be okay. If you have only one test subject, you have to make sure to keep it around. Luckily, Dora is a clutz anyway, so a few more scrapes and bruises rarely rouse suspicion. Even Dora puts it down to her own clumsiness more often than not.)

5) The real challenge is putting things into Dora's head, so real she believes them. But it gets easier the more she does it, and she starts on Ted and Andromeda soon enough. Little things at first, to weaken their resistence. By the time she gets her first wand, she is quite confident she can work a passable _Imperius_.

In third year she dares to try it. It's not perfect, but strong enough to hold until they break Mother and Uncle Rod out of Askaban for her. From there on, it gets incredibly easy.

Because Mama's back, and Delphie was a good girl, and Mama's proud of her, and now they can finally find Father.


	36. Star Wars AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: delphie star wars au pls :'))))

1) Delphie knows she is a criminal, a pest, a nothing to the Jedi. To the Galaxy. 

They proved that beyond a doubt when Pultimo commanded the purge and not one of the supposedly oh-so noble Jedi spoke against it.

But her people survived, rebuilt, grew.

2) It’s a fight between light and dark, between wrong and right, between laws and passions, and Delphie finds it impossible to say which side is which, at times.

The Jedi take, and take, and take. Her home, her parents, her happiness.

But she survives, rebuilds, grows.

3) They suffer losses at her hands, as she did at theirs. She takes what they took. She never kills younglings. She collects them all, shows them the error of their ways.

They may hate, and cry, and rage, and love, and be as passionate as they wish. Not one of them asks to go back.

A hurt, scared little girl is now the leader of her army of hurt, scared little children. No one fights more fiercely.

4) “You have corrupted those poor children.“ This Jedi is strange. She came to talk, not to fight.”Let me take them home.“

“This _is_ our home,“Albus spits, and Delphie motions for him to shush. 

(It is his fight as much as hers, she supposes, because here, with her, he is allowed to _be_. She’d never think to keep him from Scorpius.)

But she can’t have this Jedi feel vindicated in her silly ideas of the children fighting Delphie’s battles for her.”I have corrupted no one. I have freed them. I have shown them truth. I have taught them.“

She steps closer, smiles.”I could teach you, too.“

5) Victoire doesn’t feel particularly corrupted. Delphie was right.

This is freedom.


	37. Bella does a runner AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: I don't know what my affinity for tragic aus are but one where bellatrix finds out she's pregnant and goes on the run bc she's scared of voldemort's reaction and dies giving birth in the muggle world so delphi grows up just like her father

1) For one wonderful, fleeting moment, Bellatrix is ecstatic. Then the panic sets in.

He’s unpredictable, lately, more so than usual. He might kill her. Worse, he might tell her to get rid of the child.

(She’d sacrifice her child for his cause in an instant. But his? No, never his.)

So she runs.

2) “Gone?“ The word hangs in the room like the sword of Damocles.”What do you mean, gone?“

Narcissa and Rodolphus exchange a harried glance, neither sure what to tell him. They don’t quite understand it themselves. It’s not like Bella to ignore his summons.

“We can’t find her, my lord,“Rodolphus says finally. The Dark Lord is stony-faced.”So try harder.“

(Weeks pass without a sign of her. He’ll find her himself, he decides, but there’s a war to be won, first.)

3) “He’s angry, I think.“ Harry rests his aching head on his arms. His scar hasn’t stopped hurting in a long while. He ponders the feelings that aren’t his own, yet are raging in his chest.”And - worried?“

It feels strange to ascribe such a gentle word to the chaos in his mind, but the second he says it he knows it is true.”He’s very, very worried.“

“About the Horcruxes?“Ron asks softly. Harry shakes his head against his arms.”No, he’d be angrier then. It’s not like that. He’s - he’s -“

He lifts his head slowly, barely daring to speak the words that sound outrageously silly even to himself.”I think he’s really _sad_.“

4) Her mark never stops burning. He’s calling her, day and night, and she wants nothing more than to return to him. Nothing, except to protect the growing life inside of her.

She’s isolated herself from anything magical, here in this Muggle flat, where she’s just another face to the neighbours. Where she’s nothing, and no one, and the child won’t be harmed.

(She gave up everything for him, once. Now she gives up everything for the heir he never wanted. She would have much preferred to die in battle, at his side. But they have time to tell her the little girl is perfectly healthy, and perhaps that’s all that matters.)

5) “She’s - a bit odd,“the matron tells her, eyeing her in suspicion, hesitating to elaborate.”But she has a scholarship, you say? And a place for certain? At your school?“

“So she does,“Professor McGonogall says.”If I could see her now?“


	38. Delphie Potter AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: I'd love to see your take on Harry finding out about and adopting Delphi after the last battle.

1) Harry hurries into the office and over to Kingsley."What's going on? Why was I summoned?"

Only a few days have passed since the Battle of Hogwarts and while Harry had offered his help, Kingsley had declined and firmly told him to get some rest. That he called for him now makes Harry much more nervous than he'd like to admit.

"It might be nothing,"Kingsley says, not sounding as if he believes it."We caught another two Death Eaters. They have a kid - or, well, we're not really sure she's theirs. Doesn't really add up."

Harry tries to make sense of that."So they kidnapped her? Should I help find the parents?"

"We're pretty sure her parents are dead." He's never seen Kingsley look this uncomfortable."We're running tests. I just wanted you here in case I turn out to be right."

"Okay." Harry still doesn't quite see where he comes into this."So who do you think her parents are?"

Kingsley tells him, and Harry rather wishes he hadn't asked.

(It takes him about an hour to decide to take Delphie home with him. It takes about a week for everyone to stop asking him if he's sure. It takes about a month for the tabloids to get hold of the story, though they get Delphie's parentage wrong in a number of hilarious, contradictory ways.)

2) They all tell him she's too young to know about her birth parents, but Harry sits her down and explains everything anyway. There's more and more rumours flying around, and she has a right to know.

She takes it a lot better than everyone predicted.

("Oh, okay." She thinks about it for a moment."So I'm related to Teddy now?"

"Well, always have been, but yes."

"That's pretty cool. Can I have a pet snake?"

"Maybe for Christmas, Del."

"Hm. Fine. What's for lunch? I want spaghetti.")

3) "I'm not going,"Delphie says stubbornly, refusing to so much as look at Harry. He sits down on the edge of her bed anyway."What's wrong?"

"I just don't want to,"she insists, and that's when he notices the books she's half-shoved under her pillow. He sighs."Have you been reading about the war again?"

She sniffles and lifts her head a little."What if I'm a crazy, too? And I'm just so crazy I don't know it?" She takes a huge, shuddering breath that he knows is almost certain to turn into sobs."What if I just think I love you, an' Teddy, an' Grandma Molly, an' ev'ryone but I really - I really _can't_ -"

"The predestined monster thing?"Harry says."I'm pretty sure that's total bullshit, sweetie."

She giggles wetly at the swearword, turning serious again instantly."But in the book it says Albus Dumbledore said so. And he was the cleverest wizard in, like, _ever_."

"Cleverer than most men,"Harry admits,"But that just means his mistakes were correspondingly huger."

"You're such a dork, Dad." But she wipes at her eyes, gives her father a hug, and gets up."C'mon, then, before Uncle Ron eats all the cake."

4) The whispers always follow her, have for years, but the fifteenth anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts is coming up and they grow louder, and worse.

_Evil to the bone_ , she hears as she passes a group of Ravenclaws, and it's the same boy that's accused her of some evil scheme a dozen times over. She's had enough, so she steps up to the group, smirks in his face, and sneers,"And I have your precious little Chosen One wrapped around my finger. Enemies of the Heiress, beware."

They scatter like frightened chickens.

("It was very inappropriate, I admit that,"Harry sighs. He can't quite keep the smile of his face, though."In all fairness, it was a pretty great answer."

"Wasn't it?"Delphie beams at him.

They both wipe the grins off their faces quickly when they see just how thin a line McGonogall's mouth has become.)

5) "I know what I want to do now,"Delphie says, the last days of her last school holiday rapidly vanishing into nothing."I want to open an orphanage for magical kids."

"An orphanage?" Harry's surprised, but happily so. Delphie has been fretting over what to do since she gave up the idea of being a rockstar three years ago.

"Yeah." She gives a small shrug."Like, I was really lucky. Teddy was really lucky. But lotsa kids aren't."

Harry smiles at her fondly."I think that's a great idea, Del."


	39. Delphie was planned AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU (or actually it could be canon, who knows anymore) in which it is VOLDEMORT who decides to have an heir he can use in the future to help him rule the world. So it's not Bellatrix who asks for a baby, it's him who either walks up to her and seduces her, or walks up to her and drily tells her they are going to conceive immediately. Right now. Right there. Simple as that. Whatever you like!

1) “You won’t need that, Bella.”

She looks at the vial in her hand with a small frown.”My lord?“

“You won’t need that,“he repeats, stepping closer. It does nothing to lessen her confusion.”But it’s -“

“I know what it is,“he interrupts. There’s a hint of hurt in her eyes - she’s clearly misunderstood - but he’s very much in her personal space, and it doesn’t make sense.

“I’ve come to the conclusion,“he tells her, hands on her waist, the merest hint of a smile on his face,”that I have need of an heir.“

The vial slips from her fingers, a shatter on the floor, instantly forgotten.

2) She’s half asleep, half-convinced it’s all a dream anyway. His fingers are absently drawing patterns on her skin; she feels like a work of art.

If it is indeed a dream, she’ll make no effort to wake up.

3) “Of course I’ll go,”she says, not once having considered the option of staying behind. Draco can’t be allowed to fail. Cissy couldn’t bare it. Bella couldn’t bare the shame.

She’s already turning to follow Alecto when a none too gentle tug on her hand draws her back, flush against his chest, half-growl against her skin,”No, Bella, you’re staying with me.“

(He could have grabbed her wrist, and she’s very aware of the small gesture.)

4) “I’m pregnant,“she says, somewhere between excited and terrified. It’s what he wanted, what _they_ wanted, but she isn’t quite ready to leave this limbo they’re in, where he keeps her close, where she’s somehow precious to him.

But then he kisses her, and she’s never felt more cherished.

5) She’s fast asleep on his bed when he comes back, both hands on her rounded stomach, Nagini curled around her like a parody of a child and its stuffed toy.

He brushes a stray curl out of her face with a fond smile.”She glows, doesn’t she?“

Nagini gives a little hiss that makes him wonder whether snakes can laugh.“Getting a little maudlin, are we?“

“Look who’s talking,“ Harsh, clipped Parseltongue tinged with annoyance now. “No one asked you to keep watch over her.“ He corrects himself,”Over them.“

Some more might-be-laughter as she slithers off the bed and away.”And I wonder why I had that idea.“

He doesn’t dignify that with a reply as he takes up the spot his familar vacated. Bellatrix gives a small, content sigh, and he can’t help the smile.

(He wrily wonders what Dumbledore would have said, with his theories of his oh-so-stunted soul, had he ever realised how human his horcrux has made Nagini.)


	40. Snape's worst nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Snape from AU2 finds out that only one thing is worse than teaching James Potter's son, it is teaching the Dark Lord's daughter)))

1) He knows he's still supposed to be working towards overthrowing the Dark Lord. But Lily's long gone, even her son has been dead for a decade, and Snape never cared much for peace for the sake of peace. He sticks to teaching and lets things run their course.

Then the dreaded day arrives. Delphie saunters into the Great Hall as if Hogwarts belongs to her, already trailing a group of followers after her, and gives him that deeply distrubing smile her mother has perfected so well.

 _The Dark Lord's daughter_ , is whispered all around him, in varying degrees of horror and admiration. His thoughts have gone somewhere else, dread thinking into his stomach like lead. _Bellatrix's daughter_.

2) Dozens - hell, hundreds, maybe thousands - of students have dreaded stepping into his classroom. In a way, he supposses, it is only fair he should feel the same terror. And he has felt terror many times - just never when he went to teach a class.

His own little snakes usually hang onto his every word, ready to watch him tear down some dunderhead from another house. But this year, they all take Delphie's lead. And Delphie hates him with a passion.

3) "Mother says he's always been this greasy,"Delphie tells her fellow first years in a stage-whisper that carries through most of the Great Hall.

Dinner times never used to be this quiet. Snape never thought he'd miss the old days of screeching laughter and gossiping.

Now even the last hushed conversation falls quiet as everyone listens to what Delphie has to say."And as useless, too. I wanted my uncle Rod to replace him, but he doesn't want to be a teacher." She lets out an unnecessarily dramatic sigh."Not that I can blame him, really. You know what they say: If you can't do, teach."

4) He never minded being the feared Dungeon Bat. Quite liked it, actually. (Cultivated it. Loved it.)

Delphie somehow manages to turn him into something of a joke within a few weeks.

He pretends not to notice Bellatrix smirking at him across the table at the next Death Eater meeting.

5) When she finally gets him killed, he is almost relieved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> snop being miserable is my aesthetic ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	41. Bella survives AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Au where bellatrix survives the final battle and raises delphi

1) The forest is dark, and Potter’s hour is almost up. The soldiers are in high spirits, but the Dark Lord is on edge.

“It’ll be over soon,“Bella says, a soft touch to his arm. He looks down at her, half a smile, worry in his eyes. Every sliver of his soul that shattered has lessened his confidence.”So it will be.“

There’s a long pause. Her hand is still resting on his arm, and after a moment he covers her hand with his.”You should go back to Delphie.“

“Don’t be ridiculous.“ She frowns at him, bites her lip.”I’m not leaving you. You need me.“

He doesn’t disavow this, instead saying simply,“Delphie needs you.“

He could command her to leave, but he doesn’t. That’s what convinces her.

(He kisses her for a long while. She hopes she tastes like _I love you_ , she hopes she tastes like _I believe in you_. Because he tastes like _Goodybe_ , and she’s afraid she tastes like _Please don’t leave me_.)

2) Delphie’s eyes have been scarlet for days, the baby’s silent, constant demand for her father.

“I can’t get him for you,“Bellatrix whispers, for what feels like the thousandth time.”I’m so sorry, baby, I can’t.“

She holds Delphie close to her, rocking her gently.”He’s gone, sweetling. Your Papa’s dead.“

Spoken aloud, the harsh truth finally seems to sink in.

She’s only half-aware of her tears dripping into her daughter’s hair.

3) She can’t bring herself to go live among Muggles, to deprive her daughter of what is hers by right of her blood.

But Switzerland is neutral to a fault, and the right amount of money can buy anyone’s silence, anyway.

Bellatrix Black Lestrange is a name they know, of course, but only in passing, the way she herself grew up with the name Grindlewald somewhere alongside Babbitty Rabbity. Something you are vaguely aware of. Not something you would actually dwell on.

Isabella Gaunt, however, isn’t asked any questions when she drops a sack of galleons on the table, except for ‘Do you want us to repaint the fence?‘

(She couldn’t give up being Bella. She could never give up being his Bella.)

4) Delphie chatters on in happy, rapid French, and Bella smiles as she twists her daughter’s hair into intricate braids.

French has always meant family to her, home. Mother making snide comments not to be understood by others, Cissa whispering secrets, little Reggie stumbling over the sentences Tante Druella tried to teach him, even Father’s booming voice, who’d never lost the horrid English accent, who’d laughed when his daughters had mocked him for it.

(He’d taken her to France, once. On a mission, of course, but they had lingered. 

Drunk on his kisses as much as the wine, she’d called himmon cœur. He’d rolled his eyes but hadn’t objected.

She focusses on their daughter’s words, pushes away the hollow ache. Wonders if it will ever stop hurting.)

5) “Maman?” Delphie has rarely looked so uncertain. She’s chewing on her lower lip - ( _Such a commoner’s habit, Bellatrix_ , her own mother had always scolded.) - and glances everywhere but directly at her mother.”Should I - would Papa want me to finish what he started? To be the Dark Lady?“

She knows the answer her daughter seems to expect. She knows the answer every single member of the Inner Circle would have given.

But they never knew him the way she knew him.

Delphie was never a back-up plan, never a means to an end. She is their daughter, and Bella doesn’t doubt her answer for even a second.”He’d want you to be whatever you want to be, my darling.“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the rosiers are french right lets pretend theyre french okay thank


	42. Harry finds out about Delphie during the war AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: also one where harry finds out about baby delphi before he actually defeats voldemort

1) “A metamorphmagus.” His voice is unusually gentle as he leans in to take a closer look at the child, fingers gently brushing through the ebony curls, watching as they fade into a silverish blonde.”Well done, Bella.“

(Harry jerks out of his sleep with a start, staring into the dark, completely shellshocked, trying to process what he just witnessed.

”What the actual fuck,“he mumbles.)

2) “I know how we can get Hermione.“

It’s a horrid idea, he realises, but there’s no time to think about it. It’s easier than he’d thought to overpower the Death Eater and get to the child.

He’s seen far too many things for a boy his age. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen fear until Bellatrix looks at him now.

“Please,“she says, like he’s the monster, and he can’t quite disagree.”My baby… I’ll do anything. Not Delphie.“

(There’s an echo in his head. _Not Harry! Please… have mercy._ He barely manages to keep his hands from shaking.)

3) “You kidnapped her baby,“Fleur says. It sounds like she’s hoping that, somehow, she might be wrong.

Harry exchanges a harried glance with his friends.”Uh, well, we had to -“

“You _kidnapped_ her baby,“Fleur snarls, and Harry steps back so fast he almost stumbles. She snatches the baby from his arms with a withering glare and turns on her heel to leave, spitting a barrage of French on her way.

“You really don’t want me to translate that,“Bill says meekly.

(Fleur might be angry. It’s nothing compared to the fury exploding inside his head that knocks Harry to his knees. The outright panic that follows is much, much worse. He can’t shut it out, no matter what he does, He feels like his heart might tear out from the sheer intensity of it.

“Do you think she might be a horcrux?”he finally asks his friends in a whisper. They don’t. But they don’t feel the terror that curses through him.)

4) It’s all over every paper, Minsitry pamphlet and radio station. The Undesirable No. 1 is to return what he has taken or suffer the consequences.

“You took something from _him_?“ Bill sounds like an exasperated parent, but there’s the tiniest hint of awe underneath.”Must be important if he wants it back so badly.“

Fleur frowns at her husband for the sliver of approval. She has barely said the necessities to them the last few days, all cold glares and angry silences. She looks down at her paper, then at the baby asleep in the cot she’s enchanted to follow her every step.”Oh no.“

And so she breaks her own rule of ignoring Harry.”Tell me I’m wrong. For the love of Merlin, tell me I’m wrong.“

(”Suffer the consequences,“Ron repeats.”What consequences? It’s not like he knows where to find us.“

They find out very soon.)

5) He knows he is meant to see, this time. It’s different, somehow. He feels less like an invader. But he still wishes he didn’t have to see.

“One of you, every hour,“he says to the terrified students before him.”Until your precious Potter decides enough of you have died. Until he returns my-“ A split second’s hesitation. He’d almost said too much.”Until he returns what he’s taken.“

He glances at Bella, who somehow seems too small for the Headmaster’s chair, almost like a doll some child left and forgot, pale-faced and vacant-eyed, barely aware of Nagini winding herself around her ankles, trying to comfort, like a mockery of a kitten. Fourteen years in Azkaban couldn’t break her spirit like this.

He motions for Amycus to pick whichever student he wishes. Predictably that’s the girl whose shoulders are that tad too straight, who’s staring right back at him. She wants to be picked so her friends won’t be, the first years won’t be. Amycus was never one for subtleties, though, so he grins at her gleefully.”You. C’mon, then, girl. Your family won’t be surprised another one of your lot got what they had coming.“

Susan steps forward, jaw set defiantly.

(”I can’t let this happen,“Harry says, desperately. Ron looks shaken to the core, as if he doesn’t want to say what he does.”If you respond to - to _this_ now, he might demand you give yourself up, next. We can’t do anything, Harry.“

The decision is taken from them, when they wake up to find Fleur and the baby gone.

Fleur strides right past the guards, and they’re so startled they’ve barely reached for their wands by the time she’s past Voldemort, too, laying Delphie into her mother’s arms.

“Thank you,“Bella says, and Fleur nods briskly, a challenging look to the Death Eaters as she turns to leave again.

Voldemort holds up a hand to stop them.”Let her go.“)


	43. Delbus AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: can u do an au where delphi marries albus? (an older albus of course)

1) His letters are ever so tedious. But she writes back, she’s sympathetic, she’s kind. Albus simply loves her.

(She frequently wonders if it’s worth it. But she’s playing the long game, and you never know which pawns you might need.)

2) He kisses her like it’s a question he doesn’t want the answer to.

The only answers she’d have to give are honeyed lies, anyways.

3) He proposes to her the day Scorpius and Rose announce they’ll be moving in together. She says yes, because the name Potter opens all sorts of doors, and she can use a masterkey.

4) “But you’re married to my cousin,”Victoire says, yet she barely draws back an inch. Her cheeks are flushed and Delphie knows she’s just saying what she thinks she should say. She shrugs.”So? You’re married to mine.“

(She has to obliviate her, of course. But it feels good to be honest, for just one moment.)

5) “Do you love me?“ He asks it over breakfast, as if it just occured to him. She doesn’t look up from the paper. He presses on.”Do you even _like_ me? At all?“

“What a silly question,“she says, no more than that. Her mountain of lies is so vast, the idea of adding another one is just too exhausting.


	44. married bellamort AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: "Delphie thinks about this answer and holds out her glass to Aunt Cissa for more orange juice.“Why aren’t you married?“" ...but what if they were ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

1) “Bellatrix.“ She almost jumps with surprise, hadn’t even notice him entering the room.”A word?“

If she thought she could decline, she would. It’s the first time they’re alone since she told him she’s pregnant. She thought he took it rather well, really. She doesn’t want to find out she was wrong.

Alas, she can’t exactly tell him she doesn’t feel like talking, so she simply nods.

“I have been thinking about our situation,“he says, slowly, as if he doesn’t quite want to be having this conversation, either. There it is. He’s changed his mind.”Things can’t continue the way they have so far.“

He falls silent, looks as if he’s forced to be here, starts to speak again, and falls silent once more. Then he thrusts something into her hand and storms out before she’s even figured out what it is.

(”What have you got there?“Cissa wants to know as she walks into the room a while later, Bellatrix still staring down at the thing in her hand in utter disbelieve. Slowly, she looks up at her sister.”Remember how Lucius got you those earrings when you told him you were pregnant?“

“Yes?“ She tries not to sound worried at the complete non-sequitur. She’s still looking for Askaban-damage in almost anything Bella does.

“Well,“Bellatrix says,”The Dark Lord got me divorce papers instead.“)

2) He places the small box next to her book without a comment. She sets the book aside and looks at him curiously. He gestures for her to open it, so she does.

The ring is absolutely gorgeous, an oval black diamond set in an intricate white gold frame. She runs a finger over the gemstone gently, examening the twirls that form its setting. They might be snakes, she thinks.

“Well?“the Dark Lord finally demands. She looks up, uncertain, gaze flickering from him to the ring and back.”Should - should I keep it in my vault?“

“Why would you -“ He frowns at her, trying to decide if she’s somehow mocking him.”No, Bella, it’s not for your vault. It’s to _wear_.“

The Dark Lord buying her jewlery seems like the least likely thing she’s ever heard. She gives the ring another confused look.”But why?“

He looks at her as if she’s gone quite mad.“Merlin, Bella, I realise you had next to no say when getting engaged the first time, but I assumed you’d atleast gotten a ring out of it.“

“Are you -“ Slowly, the pieces come together.”Are you asking me to marry you?“

(Rodolphus doesn’t stop laughing when she tells him, ducking out of the way easily when she aims a half-hearted stupefy his way.”Would you stop it, you idiot? It’s not that funny!“

“Oh, sure it’s not funny,“he chokes out between peals of hysteric laughter.”You’re right. Not funny. Wonderfully romantic.“ 

He stops his guffaws just long enough to wheeze,”Should I keep it in my vault?“ before roaring with laughter again.

She ends up telling Cissa a carefully edited version of events after that.)

3) They’ve had breakfast together a thousand times, but she finds it more homely now, somehow. Maybe it’s that they’re officially _their_ quarters now, no longer his. Maybe it’s the way his wedding band catches the light as he turns a page of the paper. Maybe it’s the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.“You’re staring again, Bella.“

“I’ll stop,“she says, though they both know it’s not true. She doubts whether she’ll ever tire of doing so. She pours herself a cup of tea.”Would you pass the milk, husband?“

He doesn’t point out that she could quite easily get it herself.

“There you go,“he says,”Wife.“

4) “Can I marry Uncle Rod when I grow up?“Delphie asks, apropos of nothing. Voldemort scoffs.”You don’t have to do everything just because your mother did.“

She stares at him, thunderstruck.“Mama married Uncle Roddy?“

He nods, and she ponders that information.”Was that before or after she married you?“

“Before,“he says, a little more coldly than intended. Delphie is happily oblivious.”They got a divorce.“

“Oh, that’s good.“ Delphie turns back to her stuffed toys.”I don’t think I’d much want to marry him while he’s still married to Mama.“

5) She has the ring, but that’s as far as she’s gotten. There’s a dozen places she could take Victoire. None of them seem quite good enough.

“How did Father propose to you?“she eventually asks her mother, followed almost immediately by,”Why’s Uncle Rod laughing?“


	45. Serial Killer AU part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: more copycat serial killer au please :))

1)Delphie smiles at the newspaper clipping. They’re speaking of a pair now. It’s all going the way she’d hoped. She’s done so well.

She likes to think her parents would be proud of her.

2) “You’re here early,“Teddy says, as he walks into the office. Victoire looks up, startled, looking at the clock and back to her partner. He raises his eyebrows.”Or _still_ here?“

She shrugs, tries to shove her files out of sight, but he grabs them before she can.

“I knew it!“ He sighs heavily.”You’re obsessed with this case, Vic. Chief Shacklebolt said we should let the FBI handle it. We’re off it.“

“But they’re wrong,“she says. She can’t explain how she knows. She just does.

3) She’s sitting crosslegged in a pool of blood, drawing patterns with it onto the hardwood floor. She doesn’t know why she feels so empty. She was trying to bring back her parents. And she _did_.

She’s still so, so empty inside.

She needs something to fill the void. Anything.

(And something bubbles up when the erratic, sleep-deprived cop walks into the room. All alone. No one believed her.

Delphie’s surprised, but she’s fast.)

4) “Hello,“she says, gently, when the woman finally wakes up. She hit her a tad too hard. Fear flickers in her eyes, and something else. Recognition, she thinks. Delphie smiles.”Would you like some water?“

“You’re acting alone,“Victoire says, triumphantly.

“For now,“Delphie replies, brushing her fingers across Victoire’s cheek. She shudders, but doesn’t jerk away. Leans closer, actually.

“Some water would be great, thanks,“she breathes.

5) Victoire smiles, a smudge of blood on her cheek and a glint in her eyes that reminds Delphie perfectly of Mother.

Her heart is full, and whole, and she returns the smile as she hands Victoire her favourite dagger.


	46. Bella survives AU part 2 (an AU of an AU)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Okay, I dunno if you're still doing Delphi prompts but here is another... how about another AU of an AU, Bellatrix raises Delphi in Switzerland thing Voldemort is dead, but he somehow isn't and they meet up years later. Thank youu. Also your writing is amazing.

1) The knock startles her. She doesn’t get visitors. Certainly not at this time of night. Wand in hand, she throws open the door. She never backed away from a fight. She backs away from what she finds on her doorstep.

“No,“she says, because this can’t be, no matter how many nights she’s cried herself to sleep, hoping for just this.”You’re not real.“

“Bella,“he says, softly, and all she wants to do is take his outstretched hand and fall into his arms.”I’m real, Bella. It’s me.“

“No,“she repeats, but her wand hand slowly lowers. She _wants_ to believe him, and that’s dangerous.

“I asked you to call me Voldemort,“he offers.”You never did that infront of anyone else.“

With his arms around her, she stops hurting for the first time in years. She’d almost forgotten what that felt like.

2) “God, she’s so big,“he whispers, looking at their daughter from just outside her room. Delphie is fast asleep, arms wrapped tightly around her stuffed snake. Bellatrix leans against his shoulder.”Well, it’s been years. You took your time finding us.“

“You hid very well,“he says, the smallest hint of reproach.”I’m not sure I would have found you at all if I hadn’t anchored myself the way I did. Accidentally, I’ll admit. Souls are rather more complicated than I’d given them credit for.“

She takes a moment to process that. Of course she’d realised there must have been another horcrux. But the way he’s talking… She looks from him to their daughter and back.”You didn’t!“

“Not her,“he gives back, almost amused, and she can’t help but be delighted.

3) “Baby, there’s someone here to meet you,“Bella tells Delphie the next morning. Delphie’s face scrunches into a frown.”Here? But we don’t get visitors!“

Bella kisses her forehead.”This one’s special, Del. Really special.“

Delphie slips out of bed and follows her mother into the kitchen, where the visitor is waiting.

“Hello, hatchling,“he greets her softly, and even though she doesn’t register it’s Parseltongue, she still knows who he is.

“Papa!“ She squeals in delight and practically flings herself at him.

4) “Can I have a sibling?”Delphie asks a few weeks later, apropos of nothing. They both turn to her, dumbfounded.

“Why do you want a sibling?“Bella asks finally. Her daughter has never expressed any such wish before. Delphie shrugs, chewing on a strand of her hair nervously.”So we won’t be so alone. When -“ She glances back and forth between them, then down at her hands.”When Papa leaves again.“

“I won’t,“Voldemort says. Delphie eyes him warily.”But what if something important comes up?“

_Your father died fighting for a better world_ , she’d used to tell her, _for something bigger than us, more important._

Voldemort walks over to their daughter and crouches down so he’s at her eyelevel.“There’s nothing more important than being here, Del. I promise.“

5) She can’t bring herself to ask until they’re in bed, and he’s already half-asleep.“You meant that, didn’t you?“

He doesn’t need to ask what she’s refering to.“Of course I did.“

And she doesn’t doubt it.


	47. Singledad Voldemort AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: so as you pointed out Bella dying first makes Voldemort a single dad for a bit. but what if he then HADN'T died?

1) He steps over Potter’s corpse, not even feeling the slightest satisfaction. He feels _nothing_. He moves through the oddly silent hall as if he’s dreaming, as if it’s all not quite there, not quite real.

He sinks to his knees next to Bella, the ghost of a smile still on her face as he gathers her into his arms. She could almost be sleeping. He brushes her hair out of her face tenderly. Her skin is already cooling.

The world comes crashing back in. It’s loud, and it’s violent, and there’s pain upon pain. He feels as if he’s being torn from his body - as if his very being is shattering - it feels worse, this time, than it did all those years ago - he’s sure he’s dying, sure someone must have taken advantage of his distraction.

He looks up to see who killed him, only to find the battle still raging, curses still flying, and Rodolphus standing there, tears on his cheeks, but his shield charm holding strong.

“Kill them,“he says, barely recognising his own voice as he speaks.”Kill them all.“

He turns back to Bella as Rodolphus repeats the command to the others, as the foolish fighters for the so-called light realise that he has been holding back his forces, to perserve magical blood. But no more.

(He’d offered them mercy. They rejected it, and now his Bella is dead. Let them have what they asked for. Let them all choke on their ideals, on the blood he tried to spare.)

2) He hasn’t spoken a word in who knows how long. Rather longer than can be entirely healthy, he thinks, judgding by how often either Rodolphus or one of the Rowles have brought food, and reports on the war that he can’t bring himself to care about.

They’ve stopped offering to take Delphie. He won’t let her out of his sight. Won’t even put her down unless he absolutely has to. The weight of her small frame in his arms is the one thing he thinks still anchors him into this world.

She’s such a content baby that every time she does start fussing he already knows why. When he looks at her, her eyes are that soft grey that makes him ache even more. He can’t give her what she needs, can’t fulfill the silent, yet persistent demand for her mother.

“I know,“he says, finally, voice hoarse from disuse.”I miss her, too.“

3) There is no more thrill to battling. They weren’t always side by side, but she was there, somewhere, and that was enough. He’d never noticed that before.

Battles to be fought and wars to be won don’t hold his interest like they once did, yet he still continues. To build his empire, the way he’d always dreamed. Delphie’s empire, in truth. He has no more horcruxes, and no will to create another.

There might be the slightest excitement to knowing he is mortal, knowing death is just one too slow reaction away. Sometimes he is almost tempted to let his shield waver.

But his daughter expects him back in the morning, and he won’t disappoint her.

4) He watches as Ursula Rowle corrects Delphie’s hold on her new wand. He should be doing that himself, he knows, but he can’t bring himself to do it.“She wants to learn how to fight.“

“Of course she does,“Rodolphus says, smiling that small smile he always wears when their girl is just too much like her mother.”What were you expecting?“

“I’ve not yet decided if I’ll let her,“he says. He feels Rod’s incredulous look, but doesn’t shift his gaze from Delphie.”The war’s more or less over. Does she really need to learn?“

Rodolphus raises an eyebrow at that.”Maybe she doesn’t need to. But she wants to. And Bella would want her to, too.“

He is right, of course. But that is hardly the point. Not why the mere idea of spells falling rapidfire from her lips lets his heart stumble and his palms sweat.

They watch her in silence for a while, until Rodolphus finally speaks again.”You won’t lose her too, you know. We’ll keep her safe.“

5) “Did Mama love us?“Delphie asks, not quite meeting his eyes. Voldemort frowns, doesn’t know what to make of that question. But Delphie is persistent.”Did Mama love me?“

“Why would you ask such a thing?” The mere notion of doubting Bella’s love - of anyone knowing her and thinking - but then, their daughter had never gotten the chance to know her mother. He sighs.”Of course she loved you.“

Delphie draws in a shuddering breath.“Then why didn’t she stay with me? Why didn’t she love me enough to stay alive?“

“Some things are worth dying for,“he says, trying to believe that.”We were building a better world. She wanted a better world for you.“

She’s chewing on her lip thoughtfully, just like Bella always did.”So I shouldn’t be sad? Because it was worth it?“

He hesitates.”Things that are worth dying for aren’t necessarily worth losing someone for.“

She’s silent for a long while, pondering his reply. Then, finally, she nods solemnly. But she has another question yet.”Did you love Mama?“

“Delphie,“he says with a reproachful look. No one has ever dared to ask him such a thing. But he knows she wants an answer. Maybe even needs it.

“Yes,“he says,”Yes, I do.“


	48. Singledad Voldemort AU (un-tragic part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no prompt actually it just made me too sad so this happened lol

1) “You really have to come,“Rodolphus says, the only one brave enough to come and tell him so.”People are talking. Your absence tonight would be- “

“I’m not leaving Delphie alone,“Voldemort interrupts, and the baby gives a happy little gurgle as if to agree with her father.

“I thought you’d say that.“ Rodolphus hands him the package he’s brought.”That’s why I got you this.“

Voldemort looks very nearly amused as he unwraps the baby sling.”That might work, actually.“

2) “No, no, no!“Delphie whines, pulling the book form her father’s hands.”You’ve to do the voices. Auntie Ursu does voices!“

He raises an eyebrow at her.“Voices?“

“Yes,“she insists.”Babbity’s all -“ she cackles as loudly as she can,”an’ the filthy muggle’s like -“ her impression rather reminds him of Goyle, “an’ - an’ -“

“Why don’t you tell me the story, then?“he interrupts, and that appeases her.”Alright. Then you’ll know how it’s s’posed to be.“

3) “That’s not how Papa does it,“Delphie complains as Rodolphus twists her curls into braids.

“No, this is how I do it,“Rodolphus says.”And your papa isn’t here right now, so it’s me or Auntie Ursula.“

Delphie grimaces.”Auntie Ursula does it even wronger. Can’t you make Papa come do it?“

“He’s signing a very important treaty right now, my darling,“he explains, even though he’s already told her a dozen times.”Italy will be ours, then.“

“I don’t want Italy.“ She pouts and scowls.”I want nice hair!“

Rodolphus manages not to chuckle, and pulls his trump card.“Italy’s where pasta’s from.“

”I love pasta!“ Delphie lights up.”Okay, do my hair your silly way.“

4) Voldemort gives his daughter an incredulous look.“You’re not wearing that.“

“Why?“ There’s that little crease between her eyebrows Bella always used to get, too.”It matches and all. You said I had to match.“

“I also said it was a formal event,“he reminds her. She looks down at her attire and then back at him, arms crossed firmly.”Well, these are very formal wellies.“

5) “Don’t you have a mummy?“asks the girl being fitted for robes as Delphie waits. Delphie shrugs.”My mama’s dead.“

She sees that she’s embarrassed the girl, sees that she thinks she might’ve upset her, so Delphie backtracks quickly.”It’s okay, though. I _do_ have a Roddy.“


	49. Deleddy AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: au with teddy/delphi pretty please?

1) Delphie’s watching London disappear when the door is pushed open.“Sorry, can I sit here? It’s just, everywhere else is full.“

“I guess,“she says with a small shrug, not looking up until she catches a flash of turquoise out of the corner of her eye. She stares at the boy, nothing like her and yet everything like her. They have the same nose, she thinks, almost in awe. She’s never seen herself in another face, not unless she changed hers to match.

“Uhm, hi,“he says, tips of his ears and tips of his hair tinged pink with embarrassment.

“Hi,“she echoes.”I’m Delphie. Delphie Rowle.“

“Teddy Lupin,“he says, and shakes her hand.

_I know_ , she wants to say, _your mum was my cousin_.

“I’m a Metamorphmagus, too,”she bursts out instead. He lights up, and he has her smile, too.”I’ve never met another one before!“

(They have much more in common than that, it turns out, and by the time they make it to Hogwarts, Delphie forgets to think _cousin_ and starts to think _friend_.

She still tells the Sorting Hat no when he offers her Hufflepuff, and almost doesn’t dare to look over as she makes her way to the table of her ancestors. When she does, Teddy gives her a grin and a thumbs-up.)

2) Andromeda adores the girl her grandson brings home almost every holiday. She has that typical touch of nobility all old houses have, the one she never managed to instill in either Dora nor Ted.

Harry is cautious at first, because the Rowles have a dark reputation. He hints as much to Andromeda once, and she only raises an eyebrow and stares him down until he backtracks.

(It’s Teddy’s thirteenth birthday when everyone gets together for the first time.

Narcissa and Delphie look at eachother for a long while, then the girl winks and raises her finger to her lips. Narcissa simply nods.)

3) “I need some dating advice,“Teddy announces during tea. Harry and Ginny exchange a small smile.

“Well, what do you want to know?“Harry asks.

“Uh, no offense, but I meant from Auntie Ginny,“Teddy says.”She actually has game.“

(They get married four years later. Delphie doesn’t look for the perfect dress, because it finds her. Narcissa hadn’t remembered she’d kept it for her sister, but when she happened to find it she just couldn’t resist.

“Why would you give her that dress?“Andromeda’s nose wrinkles in distaste, but she has to admit the bride looks gorgeous.

Narcissa gives her an innocent smile.”Oh, I just thought it suited her, is all.“

She thinks Bellatrix would be fine with this, because her girl is giddy with love, and what more can a mother wish for?)

4) They’ve been expecting Rigel’s first word any day now. When she finally does speak, Delphie grins, because she knew it was going to be _mama_. As she turns to her husband to gloat, she finds him frowning.”Did - did she just hiss?“

“Oh, fuck,“Delphie says. She hadn’t noticed; it’s all the same to her brain, when she doesn’t expect Parsel, she can’t always tell the difference. Teddy is still staring.”Is our daughter a Parselmouth?“ A pregnant pause when she doesn’t react.”Are _you_ a Parselmouth?“

“About that,“she says steeling herself for his reaction.

(He comes back two days later, walks right past her into the nursery, and picks up their daughter. Delphie trails after him.”Are you - are we all right?“

He turns to her, and she knows he’s been crying.”I just wish you’d told me sooner.“

“And when would’ve been the right time for that?“she asks, and she means it. He shrugs.”Good point. I don’t know. But I thought you trusted me more than that.“

“I didn’t want you to hate me,“she says, and he give her a small smile.”I couldn’t, Del, you should know that.“

“I do,“she says.)

5) “She’s the heiress, even if she doesn’t know it,“Delphie argues,”of course she’ll be in Slytherin.“

Teddy scoffs.”No way. She’s a Hufflepuff, I just know it.“

They get the letter the next day, and neither can stop laughing, especially when smug Granpa Harry comes by to brag about his little lion.


	50. Roddy raises Delphie AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Delphie AU where she's raised by her Uncle Roddy.

1) Bellatrix cuddles her daughter before handing her over to Rodolphus, leaning in to kiss her forehead.”You be good for Uncle Roddy, will you?“

Then she kisses her husband’s cheek.”And you keep her safe until we come back.“

“Of course I will,“he says, and watches her leave. Waits for the Dark Lord to finish telling his heir goodbye. Or he thinks that’s what he’s telling her, anyways. It’s Parsel, of course.”What if you don’t?“

He doesn’t need to ask what he means.”Then you do what you’ve always done. You keep going on.”

It sounds like a hackneyed phrase. But he doesn’t waste time on such nonsense. Doesn’t point out that he is still immortal, or that one of them might make it back without the other. 

(That notion is absurd, anyway.)

2) “It’s just you and me now,“Rodolphus tells the child. A few hours ago, she had both parents and a spare. The spare’s all that’s left now.

He allows himself a moment to cry, to grieve, to feel _his_ loss; just once, before focussing on Delphie’s again.”Don’t worry, my sweet. Uncle Roddy’s gonna keep you safe.“

(He leaves the country before her parents’ bodies are cold. Is sad to think of the unmarked grave awaiting them. Hopes that that’s as bad as it’ll be.)

3) “Papa,“Delphie says, one of four entire words she has so far mastered, and definitely her favourite. It can mean any number of things, and in this case means _the kitten didn’t like me pulling its tail but I wasn’t done yet so get it out from under that cabinet_.

He’s tried to persuade her to call him Roddy instead, though admittedly only half-heartedly. It’s not like she has anyone else to call Papa.

(He hopes Bella wouldn’t mind. Rather thinks she wouldn’t, not unless the Dark Lord did. Not that he’d have a reason to. He’s sure she would have called the him _Father_ , anyways.)

4) “Why did you stay?“

She’s allowed to ask anything she wants. Sometimes she won’t ask anything for weeks. Sometimes she’ll ask and ask for hours on end. Some questions are more loaded than others.

(What was Mama’s favourite colour? How did they die? Could Papa talk to snakes? Should I build an army? Did they love me? Did you love them?)

This one is harder to answer than the others.

(Red, but she said green. Bravely. Of course. If you want to, I’ll help you. Yes. God, yes.)

“Someone had to,“he says, brushing her hand with a gentle smile to let her know he’s teasing. She doesn’t notice him trying to deflect. Or she probably does, but doesn’t care.”Why not Father or Mama?“

He laughs. The bitterness is almost gone, buried under years of grieve, under being guiltily thankful that he’s the one who got to live.”Impossible. There was no one without the other.“

She thinks that over for a while, and finally nods.”I’m glad there’s you without them.“

5) She looks so much like Bella that sometimes he sees her from a distance and will think she’s her mother. Will forget for a few seconds that she is dead.

(He blames Azkaban for the momentary lapses. Never thought he’d be thankful to that wretched place, if even in this abstract way.)

But then she’ll move closer, and her cheekbones will be too high, her fingers too slender, her smile not sharp enough, her father’s shadow in her gait, and, some days, his own eyes staring back at him. 

Just like that, she’s back to being his daughter.

Their daughter.


	51. Kidnapped Delphie (c42) AU part2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: You are a greaatt writerr, some time ago, you made a fanfic where Harry takes Delphi as abducted, most fanfic speaks from the point of view of Harry and the others who accompany him. But how did Bella feel at the time? What happened when Voldemort arrived at the mansion and reported the kidnapping? Could you write that intense Bellamort moment? It would be a continuation of your fic very interesting. Big Fannz !!1!1! :)

1) He arrives, seething, and the Death Eaters scatter like roaches.

In seconds, the parlour is empty except for Bellatrix, who has her knees drawn up to her chest, face hidden against them and doesn’t so much as look up at him, and Rodolphus, who hovers near his wife uncertainly.

His rage falters at the sight of them. As loathe as he is to admit it, those two are utterly devoted to eachother, and if Rodolphus is at such a loss, than something is very wrong.

“Bellatrix?“ He steps closer hesitantly. Reaches out, pauses with his hand inches from her shoulder. Isn’t sure he wants to know. Forces himself to close the gap.”Bella?“

She slowly lifts her head. Her face is a blank mask, her eyes filled with pure terror. Her voice barely a whisper.”She’s gone.“

2) “I’ll get her back,“he says, for what feels like the millionth time. He has made no progress as of yet.”I swear I will.“

She doesn’t react, gaze fixed on him, yet unseeing.

He tucks a strand of unruly hair behind her ear, brushes her cheek. Is almost confused that it isn’t ice cold.”You have to eat, Bella.“

There’s a flicker of her usual fire somewhere in her, at being told this as if she were a child, and even the annoyance is a relief. Anything is better than apathy.

It goes as fast as it came, though, and she grabs the bread from his hand, tears off a piece, chews, swallows, face contorted as if it’s agony. As if her throat is raw from screaming.

It probably is.

(”I don’t know what to do,“he admits, quietly, with Bella asleep and well out of earshot, almost hoping Rodolphus won’t hear. He does. He can see it in his eyes. He has the decency to pretend otherwise.

“You should eat,“he says instead, placing a plate down before him and turning to leave.

He’s about to protest at the idiocy when he realises he can’t remember when he last ate.)

3) She is a shell of her former self, he thinks sometimes.

She is exactly what she always was, he thinks at others.

Bellatrix always loved too deeply, too fiercely, so hard it scared him, so honestly he couldn’t turn away from it.

Her fatal flaw. But her strenghth, too, he always thought. Now her fire is turning to ashes before his eyes, and he is lost.

And he is frightened.

4) Strategecially speaking, it might be a mistake. He has revealed a weakness. Potter could well spin it to his advantage.

But it is a risk he must take, gladly takes, for a chance to get back their daughter.

He doesn’t even want to think about what he’d be willing to lay down to see Delphie safely returned.

He’s spent so many years ridding himself of any weakness, only for it all to come crashing down around him the second his daughter was taken. Perhaps even the second he first laid eyes on her.

(In truth, when he deigned to offer some perfunctory congratulations and somehow found _Madame Lestrange, may I have this dance?_ leaving his mouth instead.

Best not to dwell on that.)

5) “Thank you,“Bellatrix says, and it’s the first time she’s spoken in almost a week. The young woman turns to leave. Voldemort signals for his guards to freeze as they move towards her.“Let her go.“

He takes a second to utter a spell of his own design, placing a trace on the woman, declaring her untouchable for all those who have his Mark. He’s never had reason to use it before.

“Leave us,“he commands the Death Eaters as he strides towards Bellatrix. She’s crying and shaking, but it takes only one look at her, at the ardour shining in her eyes, to know she’s revived.

He presses his forehead to hers, too many words fighting to be said, all getting stuck in his throat. Fingers tracing Delphie’s face, making sure she’s here, she’s real, she’s all right.

A power he knows not? Dumbledore truly was a fool.


	52. Horcrux!Delphie AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU where harry's scar hurts again before the events of cc and he finds out that a young delphie is actually a horcrux and the gang struggles with killing her/ making sure Voldemort doesn't come back

1) “I’m not imagining this,“Harry says, rubbing at his aching scar. It’s been five years since he last felt it, but the pain is unmistakable.”I swear I’m not.“

Hermione exchanges a glance with Ron and Ginny before replying. She has to at least bring up the option.”Don’t you think it could be - well, couldn’t it be some sort of flashback?“

“It’s different,“he insists, and they all believe him.

The nightmares and flashbacks and panic attacks have been with them for so long, they trust him to recognise his own.

2) The Ministry is not what it once was. This government believes Harry. This government trusts Harry. This government helps Harry.

(Helps him find the child he’d rather never have known about.)

3) The couple were accused of being Death Eaters, but ultimately acquitted.

When they realise the aurors have come for the girl, that they’re trapped, Anti-Disapparition Jinx in place, they don’t even consider holding back.

Spells fall from Harry’s lips without him deciding on any off them, half-convinced he’ll wake at any second.

The blood on Ron’s face seems too red.

He barely notices when his leg is shattered.

4) The word _casualties_ makes it through the haze of painkillers, and he sits up with a shuddering gasp, hand shooting out for his wand.

He finds Hermione’s hand instead.”Ginny’s with Ron right now. They’ll both be fine.“

He sinks back down.”Is she a Horcrux?“

“We think so,“Hermione says, tone flat, flaring eyes mirroring his state of mind.”We… we have to decide what to do with her.“

5) “Harry.“ Kingsley’s voice breaks on his name, sounds like it’s too hard to speak.”Harry, you don’t have to decide. You don’t even have to know. Let us take care of this. Let us just take her away.“

Harry’s shaking, hands sweating, words stuck in his throat. Weights once placed on shoulders much too small that have never been lifted. Doesn’t know how to lift them now.

Ginny reaches out and squeezes his hand.”Harry. Let the girl go.“

He closes his eyes, and nods.


	53. Squib!Delphie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: squib delphi?

1) She is a beautiful baby, the perfect scion of the House of Black. You could barely tell her from her mother’s baby pictures if it weren’t for her eyes, a brown so dark it almost matches her family name.

Bellatrix can barely take her eyes of her daughter.“She’s perfect, isn’t she?“

And for a while, she believes that.

2) ”Shouldn’t she show signs of magic by now?“ She’s sitting in the bay window, absently petting Nagini and staring at her daughter.

Voldemort looks up from his book and over to Delphie, happily unaware of anything being amiss as she carefully stacks her building blocks. He shrugs.”Maybe. I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been around magical children.“

Bellatrix has. Her sisters and cousins had long shown their potential at Delphie’s age.

3) Others have started noticing, too, Bellatrix is sure of it.

She’s given the Dark Lord a squib for an heir, a useless little thing that will never be able to carry out his legacy.

(Not that he needs an heir. He is immortal, afterall.)

But the child is an embarrassment nontheless. _She_ is an embarrassment.

Because she loves that worthless thing.

4) They’ve had a lovely day, and Bellatrix almost wishes it would never end. But she’s made up her mind. It’s for the best, really.”You know I love you, Del, don’t you?”

“Of course, Mummy.“ Big, loving eyes.“I love you, too, Mummy.“

Bellatrix brushes her hair out of her face tenderly.”And I only want what’s best for you.“

Such warm eyes. A bit confused, but full of love.”I know that, Mummy.“

“That’s good, baby.“ She hands her the mug before she can change her mind.”Here, drink that.“

She accepts it without hesitating, trusting eyes and a soft smile, and raises the mug to her lips. Bellatrix almost knocks it from her hands.

Almost.

5) They’re still warm when he finds them, but it’s too late. Bella’s cradling their daughter close against her, the mug next to them looking far too innocent.

“Oh, Bella.“ He touches her cheek softly.”What did you do?“

Maybe he should have seen it coming. She had been near obsessive over Delphie still showing no signs of magic. He hadn’t taken it seriously. Never would’ve thought -

He picks up the mug, idly, oddly detached from what he is doing.

Calls for Nagini. She comes to him at once.

Such trusting eyes.


	54. Pregnant Bella

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Bellatrix's pregnancy
> 
> (this is crack af and i am drunk)

1) “Are you sure?“ He’s asked it a few times already. It’s like he’s stuck on the notion. Not that she’s wrapped her head entirely around the idea yet, really.”Pretty sure.”

He finally stops pacing and sits down across from her.”How can you _not_ be sure?“

Good. He’s made it a step further.

She shrugs.”Haven’t been to see a healer. Don’t think I should. I mean, we are at war. I don’t want anyone finding out about this.“

“Good point,“he concedes.”So we oblivate the healer.“

“Spells can be broken.“

“So we kill the healer.“

“I’ll need more than one appointment.“

“So we kill more than one healer.“

She considers that.”Yeah. That works.“

(They go through five healers before it becomes glaringly obvious to the Inner Circle that a) Bellatrix is pregnant and b) they are killing off healers like it might go out of style.

“You do know I’m a trained healer, right?“Ursula Rowle asks casually after a meeting that started almost an hour later because St. Mungo’s staff is getting suspicious. Bellatrix stares at her for a while before awkwardly clearing her throat.”Oh, yes, I knew that.“)

2) “You know, we never discussed how this even happened.“ He holds out a plate to her, she wrinkles her nose, and he quickly draws it back, picking something else of the table. Figuring out what she can and can’t stomach is a lot harder than it should be.

She tries to take a sip of her tea but ultimately decides against it.”Well, when a man and a woman -“

He rolls his eyes.“Not funny, Bellatrix.“

“I s’pose I missed a dose of potion somewhere,“she says. At his raised eyebrow she crosses her arms with a frown.”What? You have to remember a lot of stuff to have it work right and even then it’s not a guarantuee. I have memory issues since Azkaban. You know that.“

He does. And now he feels like an arsehole. Maybe he shouldn’t have even brought up this topic - wait.”Did you just say that so I’d drop this?“

“Would you pass the bacon?“she asks with a smile as close to innocent as she can manage.

3) “Bella?“ No reaction. He tries a little louder.”Bellatrix?“

She stirs a little, but that’s all. He could wake her, of course, but she’s been constantly tired and barely sleeping lately, and he can’t bring himself to do it.

She’s draped across both him and the couch at an angle that can’t possibly be comfortable but she swears is the only position that makes her back stop hurting. He can’t possibly get up without disturbing her.

With a sigh, he gently untangles her arm and presses a finger to her Mark.

Rodolphus pushes the door open not a minute later.”My lord?“ He takes one look at them, smile barely surpressed.”Do you need me to cancel your meeting?“

“No.“ He can’t believe he’s actually saying this.”I need you to get the embassodors here and tell them to keep their voices down.“

(He’s already basically written the meeting off right then. But the Spanish embassodor is genuinely delighted, makes a pointed remark about how _her_ husband could do with being a bit more considered, and signs the treaty right away.)

4) “Are you crying?“he asks, trying not to sound horrified at the thought.

“No,“Bellatrix sniffles, though she is very clearly crying.

He’s heard of the notorious moodswings associated with pregnancy, but so far Bellatrix has only gone into a rage and set Snape on fire. ( _Just a tiny little bit_ , she’d defended herself.) He’s not even sure that had anything to do with hormones at all.

He doesn’t push, just waits.

Finally, she looks up at him, wiping at her eyes furiously.”What if snakes don’t know we love them?“

“Most people don’t,“he says, which clearly was the wrong answer as she practically _howls_ at that, fresh tears on her face. Dear god. No wonder so many families just stop after the heir’s produced.

He calls his familiar into the room, informs the delighted snake that Bellatrix loves her, almost without stumbling over the word, and watches as Nagini curls up on Bella’s lap like the world’s most grotesque kitten as Bellatrix pets the snake contentedly.

It’s lucky that in two more months they can just never, ever speak of this again.

5) “Mummy’s sick,“Delphie announces, somehow looking both concerned and put out by this. They were going to go to the beach today.”You have to go help her, Papa.“

He knocks on the bathroom door, and hesitantly pushes it open when he gets only silence in answer.

Bella’s on the floor next to the toilet, but turns to look at him, ashen faced. He inches closer.”Are you okay?“

“Remember how often Potter fucked up your plans?“she asks.

Bit of a non-sequitur, but he nods.

“Good.“ She retches, but manages to keep the rest of her breakfast down.”So no lecturing me on making the same mistake twice.“

He needs a moment to work that out, then opens the door to tell their daughter that her mother is fine, the beach outing is postponed, and she’s going to be a big sister.


	55. Pregnant Bella doesn't go to Azkaban

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: au where bella doesn't go to azkaban and also she's pregnant

1) He’s gone, they’re on the run, and she’s home, feeling like her feet must wear through the carpet at any second, with her pacing, pacing, pacing.

Feeling so useless, and yet knowing Rod was right when he told her to stay behind. (Even if she wanted to curse his face off right then.)

She flings open the door at the second knock, not caring who she finds, just hoping for something to happen. Anything.

“Oh,“she says lamely as she looks at the aurors.

Their hands are fixed around their wands but their eyes are fixed on her hand. Not the one close to her pocket, close to her own wand. The one resting absently on her rounded stomach.

She surpresses the smirk, and channels everything her mother drilled into her from the moment she was born.”May I help you?“

Polite, yet with a slight edge. She is their better, and they’d do well to remember it.

“We have some questions,“the gruffiest one says. Moody, she knows. She’s duelled him before, hair stuffed under a hood and mask on her face. The first time she’s glad for the ridiculous thing. Still, he eyes her wearily, so she turns to the woman, the one clearly in charge.”This seems highly unusual. Madame Bones, isn’t it? I expect an explanation.“

“There’s been -“ Bones frowns, gaze flicking back to Bella’s stomach.”An incident. There’s been some indication you-” She falters again.”Your husband may be involved.“

“Is that so?“ Bellatrix titters.“And if he were, you think Roddy would tell me anything? Clearly you don’t know my husband.“ She lets a touch of irritation creep into her voice.”He never lets me know anything. Even though I would really want -“

She clasps a hand over her mouth, wide-eyed. Swallows hard and straightens her shoulders. Puts that slight tremor to every word that Cissa has right before she starts crying.”I think I would like my attorney present for any further conversation.“

2) She’s glad when they finally leave the courtroom. It took every ounce of selfcontrol she had not to proclaim her allegiance to the Dark Lord right there, jinx Crouch and try to break Roddy out.

It would have been foolish, of  course. She thinks if not for the baby she would have tried anyway. (Well, if not for the baby, she’d probably have been sitting right next to her husband, she supposes.)

“Barty was embarrassing himself,“she remarks once they’re back in Malfoy Manor. The Lestrange holdings have been seized for now, and Narcissa is being overly caring anyway. Keeps handing her Draco, too. (Not that Bella doesn’t love her nephew. But kids are germriddled, mannerless, tedious things, and she didn’t do this _on purpose_ , so really, why is she expected to be all motherly all of a sudden?)

Her sister gives her a disapproving look.”He’s scared. He’s only nineteen.“

“He’s a coward is what he is,“Bellatrix says, lowering herself into an armchair.”Mind you, with that father it’s no wonder he’s a good-for-nothing. That whole trial was a sham. Not like he bothered giving Sirius one, is it? Or Dolohov.“

Narcissa sits down aswell.”He’s trying to save face.“ There is a pause, Narcissa wringing her hands uncertainly.”Should we say something? About Sirius?“

Bellatrix laughs.”And what, exactly? My cousin isn’t a Death Eater, which I can tell you since I am in the Inner Circle, and the Dark Lord shares everything with me.“ She gestured vaguely to her stomach.”Here’s some proof of that. Now let my bloodtraitor cousin out of Azkaban and throw me in instead. Great idea, Cissa.“

(Poor little Cissy has always been too soft for this world.)

3) She had planned to go looking for him once she’d given birth, leaving the child with Narcissa. But in four months, she hadn’t found a hint of where he might be, no clue where to start her search, and found that she was under surveillance as soon as she stepped outside anyhow.

So now she’s idly moving the stroller back and forth a few inches to make sure Delphie stays asleep as the other women chat around her, every now and again stopping to coo over the baby. She’s the youngest, only three weeks old, so especially heavily pregnant Laurelai Greengrass can barely keep her eyes off her. (And she is an extraordinarily adorable baby, if Bellatrix does say so herself.)

She absently accepts the lemon water one of the elves offers as she turns to watch little Pansy present her mother with flowers she picked before going off to collect more. They’ve had a lovely, mild spring so far, and half the women have broken out the sunhats already.

“How are you, dear?“asks Persephone Zabini sympathetically - technically, it’s Flint at the moment, but she’s on husband number three, and no one calls her anything else anyway.”I know it must be hard, with the little one not knowing her father.“

She’s the only one who can get away with asking her something like that, what with her own fatherless boy sitting at his current step-cousin’s feet, intently watching a line of ants march by. Ursula’s twelve, and delighted to have been invited into their round as one of the ladies, this time. The slice of cake sits untouched before her. Bellatrix remember what it was like for her. Too nervous to eat, too nervous to speak. But Merlin, she rubbed it in Dromeda and Cissa’s faces that night.

She replies without so much as looking at Persephone,”She will know him, soon enough.“

(Persephone hums mildly in reply, but Bellatrix knows she thinks she’s fooling herself, what with Rod’s life sentence. But once Delphie meets her father - and surely it can’t be long now? - she will meet her uncle Rod shortly after, aswell.)

4) Draco and Delphie are racing along the street ahead of them - well, Draco is racing; Delphie’s more… flailing her arms and legs while not moving much faster than usual - when Bellatrix sees him.

He looks grim, which isn’t unusual, but something draws her towards him. Mayhaps it’s the way he looks around, like he’s not supposed to be here. Took her four missions and quite a few slaps to get his son to stop his obvious tells. They’d probably hate that they have the same ones.

“Cissa, keep an eye on Delphie, will you?“ She doesn’t wait for her sister’s reply before following him into the bookstore.

His elf is picking books, showing him her selections, but he barely acknowledges her presence. Bella’s paying close attention, though. She knows Barty’s taste. Reggie showed her his books when he forgot them sometimes.

It’s unlikely. But it isn’t impossible.

“Mister Crouch,“she says, and she wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d pulled his wand on her, the way he jumps at her voice.”Pity about the MLE. I was disappointed to hear that.“

He’s tried for almost every Head of Department position since it became clear he’d never become Minister. It’s been amusing to follow.

“Madame Lestrange.” He inclines his head the barest minimum, doesn’t want to make a scene. She has political sway, and he hates it.

She gives him her most winning smile.”I thought they ought to have picked you. But there’s always the election next year, no?“

Doesn’t hate it enough not to want to take advantage of the offer.

(It’s easy enough to break Barty out, oblivate his father and the elf, give him all the sparse information and vague hints she’s gathered in the last two years, and send him on his way. She’s still too closely watched to go with him.)

5) “Darling, go say hello to your papa,“Bellatrix says, stroking her daughter’s hair before giving her an encouraging little push towards Voldemort.

He is as glorious as ever, and her heart melts as he crouches down to greet their daughter for the very first time.

“Papa?“Delphie says uncertainly, the word quite foreign on her tongue. But he smiles, returns something in Parsel, and her little face lights up.

Maybe it wasn’t soon enough, but it was surely worth the wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this collection is ONE YEAR OLD TODAY wth how even  
> i'm so excited over that lol


	56. Voldemort Wins AU (the one with the outings)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Voldy lives AU with cute Bellamort + Delphi family outings!

1) “Are you not ready yet?“ Bellatrix stands in the doorway to his study - well, Lucius’s, really, but not for the last year - and has her lips pursed _that_ way.

Clearly, he has done something wrong. If now only he could remember what it was…

“Ready?“he asks when the silence has stretched on too long and he still has no clue what he has done. It probably has something to do with why she was in a sundress. Yellow always suited her, he thinks, but by the look on her face, now is not the time to tell her so.

“Delphie’s first outing,“she says, and it sounds rather menacing.”We’re taking her to the beach. I told you this. More than once.“

He blinks at her, nonplussed.”What, I’m supposed to come, too?“

He’s glad she is holding the baby, and not something she could throw at him.

“Obviously,“she grinds out between clenched teeth.”That’s what _we_ means.“

“I thought you and Narissa,“he starts, but quickly breaks off and changes tracks.”She won’t know if I’m not there. She has the awareness of a flubberworm, for Merlin’s sake. She’s three weeks old, she -“

“Four,“she cuts him off.

“What?“

“Your daughter, the flubberworm, is _four_ weeks old.“ The last time she’d switched from angry to calm this fast, it had ended in more severed limbs than the MLE’s clean-up crew had bothered to count.”And since she should see something besides this overly pompous house and Lucius’s ridiculous idea of a garden, she’ll have her outing.“

He wouldn’t be surprised to evaporate on the spot, horcruxes and all, from the look she throws him before turning to leave.”So we - that is to say the flubberworm, Rodolphus, and I - will be going, then.“

As if he cares.

(He catches up with her before she was down the corridor. The beach outing turns into a three-day weekend at the Côte d’Azur, but she stops the flubberworm jabs by the first afternoon.

He doesn’t admit he was enjoying himself. He does tell her she looked lovely in yellow.)

2) Delphie is hopping along between them; every now and again they swing her up between them and she shrieks in delight.

The street reminds him of Diagon Alley, but they aren’t constantly stared at, here. It’s quite oddly refreshing not to have someone bow and growel every few yards.

It really was a good idea to take them along to Germany. The deals have all been settled and signed, so now there’s nothing to do but enjoy the crisp spring air.

3) He awakes to something very pointy being jabbed into his stomach with a lot of force. Luckily he opens his eyes before starting to throw curses, as it turns out to be his daughter kneeling on top of him.”Are we going now?“

“After breakfast,”he says, gently pushing her off him onto the bed and discreetly rubbing what would soon be two vicious bruises. Why Bellatrix insists on them going places this early when she herself was still fast asleep he’d never know. Nor why Delphie still decides to jump on _him_ instead. He gets up.”I need coffee. Wake up your mother.“

It isn’t entirely without malice that he lets the kid do that. But Delphie thwarts his petty revenge by carefully crawling into Bella’s arms and peppering her face with kisses. Brat. He makes a mental not to only let her have one scoop of ice cream later.

(He pretends not to remember that when she switches on her puppy dog eyes.)

4) Delphie’s brow is furrowed in concentration as they make it through the steps, but he can tell she was immensely pleased with herself.

(”You’re spoiling her,“Bellatrix had chastised.”She should be able to do it by now. Father only let me dance on his feet until I was five.“

There was something hilarious about the image of stiff, boring Cygnus ballroom dancing with a small child on his feet, but he supposed the same could be said about him.

He’d agreed to make Delphie try for herself.)

She beams at him as the song ends.”Did you see how good I did it?“

“Very well, yes,“he replies. He resists the urge to ruffle her hair just as she held back from throwing her arms around him.”I’m impressed.”

She has attended quite a few formal events, but it is the first time she’s come to the anniversary celebration of the final battle.

(He refuses to call it Blood Ball, no matter how much it was catching on, and vows to curse the student who came up with it beyond recognition if he ever found out who it was.)

The seventh year is a good as time as any to allow her to attend. A magical number, afterall.

“I’ll go show Ursula what I can do,“she says, looking around the room.”Then you can go dance with Mama.“

Delphie loves to watch them dance. Loves any sign of affection between them, really. He sometimes wonders if that held true for all children or only the ones with fathers persistently rumoured to be incapable of feeling.

Either way, he is more than happy to let her have this. Especially when it means he could go and cut in. Not that he is jealous. Rodolphus just generally has no business dancing. His leg hasn’t been the same since that agromantula got a hold of him.

“Do you know you can ask me to dance when I’m not dancing with Roddy?“she teases as he spins her into a twirl before pulling her closer than before. He kisses the smirk off her face.”That has tradition by now, no?“

5) “We could go anywhere,“Voldemort points out for the umpteenth time.”That dragon sanctuary in Russia, for example. I hear they let you feed them people, no questions asked, if you have the money.“

“Sounds lovely, but Delphie picked this. You can take me there for my birthday, then,“Bellatrix says.”We don’t technically need Snape anymore, right?“

“I… suppose not.” He frowns at her.”What has it been, thirty years of you nagging me about that?“

“Thirty-one,“she says.”About time you caved, dear. Now, where has Delphie gotten to?“

A screaming crowd comes running their way just then.

Voldemort smirks.”I have a hunch.“

(Delphie stands in the reptile house, beaming, petting a python and cooing to it. She looks up as her parents entered, and gestures to all the glassless enclosures.”Accidental magic, I swear.“

“I’m sure it was,“Bellatrix says.”You can only use that til September, you know. After that you’ll need to get more creative.“

“Uncle Draco’s head of the MLE,”Delphie points out.”I don’t have to make excuse at all.“

“No, you just enjoy lying,“Bellatrix says fondly.

Voldemort smiles. Maybe the zoo isn’t so bad, afterall.)


	57. Del and Scorp AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Delphi and little Scorp? That'd be nice.

1) “Can I hold him now?“Delphie asks. Everyone’s been so excited, and she wants the attention back. She’s been the baby of the family for eight years and doesn’t particularly care to give up the position.

When Draco lays little Scorpius in her arms, she has to admit he is quite adorable.

Then he opens his eyes, small fingers closing around one of hers as he gazes up at her, and just like that, she doesn’t mind no longer being the baby.

2) They’ve been in France for almost six weeks, and Delphie’s pretty excited to go back home.

“Do you think Scorp even remembers me?“she asks her mother. Bellatrix shrugs.”I don’t know, love. He’s only two.“

She didn’t need to worry. As soon as he hears her voice down the hall, he comes racing towards her and drops into her arms, clinging onto her without a word for a long time before taking her by the hand and leading her to his favourite toys.

3) “You got me a book for my birthday,”Scorpius tells her as he climbs onto Delphie’s lap. She lifts him up a little to get him properly settled.”I know, Scorp.“

“Can you read it to me?“he asks, and of course she does.

In the middle of the story he puts his hand on the page to stop her.”Will you go to France forever?“

Every time they spend some time there, he gets worried about that.

“No, I don’t think so,“she says.”Too far away, isn’t it?“

He smiles up at her.“Too far from me?“

“Exactly,“she says and kisses his forehead.

4) “So, did you like Victoire?“Delphie asks.

“If she comes back, I’m going to kick her,“Scorpius tells her very matter-of-factly.

Delphie manages to surpress a laugh.”And why’s that?“

After the... _discussion_ she had with her parents on the subject, this is utterly harmless.

“You like her more than me,“he says quietly. Delphie puts her arm around him.”Don’t be silly. You know you’re my favourite person in the wordl.“

He thinks about this, then nods.”Okay. I probably won’t kick her.“

5) “I’ll be fine,“Scorpius assures his parents, typical scoffing first year that won’t admit he’s scared.

He turns to hug his cousin, and whispers,”You’ll write me, won’t you?“

“Every day, if you want,“Delphie replies. He hugs her tighter before letting go with a sheepish grin.”Well, maybe not _every_ day.“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did u know scorp went to hogwarts the first time today yay


End file.
